The Court docket of Enchantment sitting in Ibadan, Oyo State, has overturned the suspension of the Nationwide Union of Street Transport Staff (NURTW) by the Oyo State Authorities, declaring the motion illegal and with out justification.
In a unanimous judgment delivered by a three-man panel comprising Justices Biobele Georgewill, (Dr.) Kenneth Ikechukwu Amadi, and Fadawu Umaru, the appellate court docket held that the federal government failed to determine any concrete proof of misconduct or breach of peace by the union to warrant its suspension.
Delivering the lead judgment, Justice Amadi faulted the choice of the decrease court docket, which had upheld the federal government’s motion, describing it as a miscarriage of justice.
He famous that the allegations relied upon by the state authorities had been speculative and unsupported by info.
“I’ve fastidiously perused the info as deposed within the counter-affidavit of the mentioned Tunde Afolabi of the second respondent. Aside from mere allegations of breach of peace and intimidation of residents by the appellant, nowhere did the respondents depose to any explicit incident or particular conduct of members of the appellant which occasioned a breach of peace, regulation, or order to warrant the suspension of their operations within the state,” Justice Amadi held.
The appellate court docket due to this fact allowed the enchantment, put aside the suspension of the NURTW’s operations in Oyo State, and vacated the judgment of the Nationwide Industrial Court docket that had earlier affirmed the federal government’s determination.
Justice Biobele Georgewill, in his concurring judgment, criticised the Oyo State Authorities’s strategy, stressing that whereas the governor has a constitutional responsibility to take care of peace and order, such powers have to be exercised lawfully.
He held that “if the appellant’s actions had been violent, then such acts might be checked by regulation enforcement businesses, together with the police. However the state authorities can’t, beneath any guise, resort to illegality by suspending the actions of a registered commerce union, because it lacks such powers beneath the regulation.”
The authorized dispute arose after Governor Seyi Makinde, on 31 Might 2019, introduced the suspension of the NURTW’s operations throughout Oyo State, citing issues over a potential breakdown of regulation and order. The federal government subsequently took over the administration of all motor parks within the state.
Difficult the transfer, the union, via its counsel, Mr Femi Falana (SAN), filed a go well with on the Nationwide Industrial Court docket in Ibadan on 19 July 2021, in go well with quantity NICN/IB/41/2021, searching for declarations that the suspension was unconstitutional and extremely vires the powers of the state authorities.
The Industrial Court docket, nonetheless, dismissed the go well with on 23 March 2022, ruling that the federal government had merely suspended, not proscribed, the union’s actions.
Dissatisfied, the NURTW filed an enchantment on 22 April 2022, contending that the state authorities lacked the constitutional authority to droop a commerce union registered beneath the Commerce Union Act, which falls throughout the unique legislative competence of the Federal Authorities.
In his submissions, Falana argued that the trial court docket erred in regulation by failing to think about the substantive points raised by the union and by counting on incompetent affidavits filed by the respondents. He additional contended that the suspension violated the NURTW’s proper to freedom of affiliation as assured beneath Sections 36 and 40 of the 1999 Structure.
Opposing the enchantment, the Oyo State Legal professional-Common, Mr Abiodun Aikomo, maintained that the suspension was essential to forestall a breakdown of public order. Nonetheless, the appellate court docket disagreed, ruling that the state authorities supplied no proof of any disturbance or particular act of violence linked to the union.
Justice Amadi concluded that the state’s motion amounted to government overreach, stressing that constitutional powers to take care of peace have to be balanced in opposition to the basic rights of residents and lawful organisations.
