The Hon. President of the National Industrial Court, His Lordship, Hon. Justice Benedict Kanyip, Ph.D., OFR on Tuesday officially declared the 2024/2025 Legal year open. Justice Knayip assured that the Court will continue to improve on its objectives on easy and quick dispensation of labour justice that meets global standards.
In his address, the Hon. President maintained that labour justice delivery, the hallmark of the court mandate will continue to be their mainstay in line with the international best practices, and also stated the digital solutions deployed by the Court to ease the judicial process have been improved on.
Justice Kanyip maintained that the newly launched electronic certified true copies portal and final written addresses portals have made it possible for counsel and litigants to get certified true copies of judgments from the comfort of their zones and to submit written addresses online which means that the requirement of submitting written addresses in discs or flash drives may now be dispensed with.
The Hon. President also used the avenue to inform that since the Court’s last legal year celebration in 2022, a total of 8,608 pending cases, of which the Court delivered 1,616 judgments, with 6,992 cases currently pending.
Furthermore, Justice Kanyip urged the National Assembly to amend section 291 of the 1999 Constitution to allow retired judicial officers to take as pension the same salary and allowances of their equivalents as those who are still in service at any point in time.
On the elevation of Hon. Justice P. A. Bassi JCA, and Justice O. O. Oyewumi JCA to the Court of Appeal, in addition to Hon. Justice Kenneth Amadi JCA, the Court of Appeal now has a complement of labour law judges that can sit on appeal over NICN matters.
Sadly, on the unfortunate demise of Late Justice E. N. Agbakoba, and the Staff that passed on to greater glory, the Hon. President of the Court prayed for the repose of their souls.
In the same vein, Justice Kanyip also used the avenue to express that with the elevation of Three Judges to the Court of Appeal, and the death late Justice Agbakoba, four States of the Federation are not represented on the Bench of the Court and the process for filing these vacancies had commenced and hope to see it through in the coming year.
While congratulating the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Hon. Justice Kudirat Motonmori Olatokunbo Kekere-Ekun, GCON, as the substantive Chief Justice of Nigeria, also assured that the Court shall accordingly continue to strive to attain excellence by improving on justice delivery within the limits of law inline with the global standards.
Justice Kanyip expressed sincere appreciation to NJC, the FJSC, the Committees of both Houses of the National Assembly responsible for the Judiciary and the Federal Government in general for their cooperation.
Also in his remark, the Attorney General of the Federation, Mr Lateef Fagbemi SAN while appreciating the contribution of the Court to the resolution of trade disputes and industrial relation matters in the country which has helped in safeguarding socio-economic stability, resolving industrial disputes, curbing the excesses of both employers and employees, thereby ensuring harmonious labour relations in Nigeria, urged the Hon. Justices of the Court to strive to achieve a sustainable balance between justice for the employer, employee, and the society.
In the same development, the Body of Senior Advocates of Nigeria represented by Asiwaju Awomolo SAN expressed that the recent timely interventions of the court in industrial disputes all over the country have justified the wisdom in creating the court as a specialized court, and the court has continued to live up to its expectation through the timely dispensation of cases.
Also in his remark, the president of the Nigerian Bar Association, Afam Osigwe SAN confessed that the National Industrial Court remains a model court concerning the approach of the Court to its constitutional responsibilities and urged for more digitalization of the Court.
The event witnessed the presence of heavy-weight judicial titans, including the Hon. Justices from the Court of Appeal, Judges of the Federal High Court and FCT High Court; registrars, lawyers, staff and the general public.
Others include the former President of the Industrial Court, Hon. Justice Babatunde Adejumo OFR (Retired).
