Following continuous disobedience to the Court of Appeal judgment that declared the proscription and suspension of the activities of the Oyo State Chapter of the National Union of Road Transport Workers as illegal, a lawyer, Mrs Funmi Falana, has faulted the state Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Abiodun Aikomo, for allegedly misrepresenting the judgment of the appellate court.
Falana’s position was contained in a letter in Ibadan, the state capital, on Sunday.
According to a letter sent to Aikomo following the alleged misrepresentation of the appellate court’s judgment.
The dispute between the state government and the NURTW dates back to June 6, 2011, when the government, under the late former Governor Abiola Ajimobi, proscribed the union.
The proscription was subsequently challenged at the Federal High Court, Ibadan, in suit No: FHC/IB/CS/30/12 (Alhaji Lateef Akinsola & Ors v. Governor of Oyo State).
On May 25, 2012, the Federal High Court declared the proscription of NURTW illegal, unconstitutional, null and void, setting aside the order.
Despite that judgment, on May 19, 2019, Governor Seyi Makinde announced the suspension of the NURTW from collecting check-off dues from parks and garages across the state, a move the union later described as another unlawful interference with its lawful activities.
The state NURTW Chairman, Abideen Olajide, fondly known as Ejiogbe, expressed the union’s readiness to resume work at any moment.
Expressing his members’ readiness to resume duties at motor parks, the chairman also allayed fears of the government and residents by declaring that “the NURTW under his watch is a law-abiding group that doesn’t mind co-existing with the Motor Parks Managers that are collecting revenues for both the state and local governments while its own responsibilities lie with those of its members statewide.”
In her letter to Aikomo, Falana insisted that the court judgment that the state government neither has the power to proscribe nor suspend the activities of the NURTW was explicit and without any ambiguity.
She warned the government against acts of contempt and deliberate disobedience of a subsisting judgment of the Court of Appeal, which set aside the suspension of the union’s activities in motor parks and garages across the state.
Falana, who is the counsel for the NURTW, “faulted the state government’s interpretation of the appellate court’s decision, accusing it of substituting its own views for the express and binding pronouncements of the Court of Appeal.”
The letter, which was also copied to the state Commissioner of Police and the State Director of the Department of State Services, warned that any further refusal to comply with the judgment could lead to contempt proceedings against the Attorney-General and possible disciplinary action before the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee.
“The Court of Appeal’s judgment in Suit No: CA/IB/263/2022 – National Union of Road Transport Workers v. Governor of Oyo State & 3 Ors., delivered earlier this year, expressly nullified the suspension imposed by Governor Seyi Makinde on the activities of the NURTW in the state, including the collection of check-off dues at motor parks and garages.
“It is unfortunate that you have substituted your views for the judgment of the Court of Appeal without any legal basis. In other words, the Court of Appeal never held that NURTW remains suspended from collecting dues from motor parks and garages in the state.
“In view of the clear and unambiguous judgment of the Court of Appeal, you will agree with us that the purported suspension of the activities of the NURTW by Governor Seyi Makinde, including the collection of check-off dues in the parks and garages, has been set aside by the court,” the letter read.
Falana further reminded the Attorney-General of the constitutional duty to uphold and enforce appellate court decisions pursuant to Section 287(2) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which provides that “the decision of the Court of Appeal shall be enforced in any part of the federation by all authorities and persons, and by courts with subordinate jurisdiction to that of the Court of Appeal.”
The legal practitioner cautioned that failure to obey the appellate court’s ruling would attract serious legal consequences.
“If you are not prepared to comply with the judgment of the Court of Appeal, we shall not hesitate to initiate contempt proceedings against you and report you to the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee for encouraging your clients to treat the judgment of the Court of Appeal with provocative contempt,” she warned.
The union challenged the decision before the National Industrial Court in Suit No: NICN/IB/41/2021 (NURTW v. Governor of Oyo State & Ors). On March 23, 2022, the NICN dismissed the union’s suit, holding that the suspension of its activities in parks did not amount to proscription or de-registration.
The NURTW subsequently appealed to the Court of Appeal, Ibadan Division, which, after reviewing the facts, overturned the decision of the National Industrial Court and ruled in favour of the union.
In the lead judgment, the Court of Appeal held that the government failed to justify the suspension of the union’s operations on any lawful ground.
The appellate court noted that, “Apart from the mere allegations of breach of peace and intimidation of the citizens by the appellant, nowhere did the Respondents depose to any particular incident or specific conduct of the members of the appellant which occasioned a breach of peace, law and order to warrant the suspension of their operations in the state.”
The court held that the respondents failed to justify the suspension of the activities of the appellant based on the ground of breach of peace, law and order in Oyo State caused by the appellant.
The appellate court, therefore, allowed the appeal, set aside the suspension on the operations of the appellant in the state and also set aside the judgment of the lower court.
Falana further emphasised that the continued refusal of the government to reinstate the NURTW’s lawful operations contravenes the constitution and undermines the sanctity of the judiciary.
She urged the Attorney-General to immediately advise the governor to comply fully with the appellate court’s decision to restore the NURTW’s activities and rights in the state or risk contempt proceedings.
