The National Industrial Court has ordered the Federal Government to register the National Association of Non-Teaching Staff of Nigerian Universities (NANTS) as a trade union, and affirm its legal right to operate nationwide.
The court held that the refusal of the Registrar of Trade Unions and the Minister of Labour and Employment to register the association was wrongful, directing the authorities to immediately issue NANTS with a certificate of registration.
The judgment, delivered by Justice Osatohanmwen Obaseki-Osaghae at the National Industrial Court in Abuja on Tuesday, resolved a protracted legal dispute between the newly formed union and relevant government authorities over its registration under the Trade Unions Act.
A copy of the enrolled judgment showed that the court granted all the reliefs sought by the claimant and ordered the immediate registration of NANTS as a recognised trade union in Nigeria.
The suit, marked NICN/ABJ/345/2023, was instituted by the association through Comrade Niyi Akinnibi, who sought a court order compelling the government to register the National Association of Non-Teaching Staff of Nigerian Universities and accord it full recognition under the law.
The defendants in the matter were the Registrar of Trade Unions, the Minister of Labour and Employment, and the Attorney General of the Federation.
In its ruling, the court declared that the government authorities were legally bound to register NANTS and that their refusal to do so amounted to a wrongful denial of the association’s rights under the Trade Unions Act.
Justice Obaseki-Osaghae further held that the actions of the first and second defendants in withholding registration lacked legal justification, stressing that the claimant had satisfied the requirements necessary to be recognised as a trade union.
Part of the judgment reads: “A declaration is hereby made that the defendants are bound to register the claimant’s National Association of Non-Teaching Staff of Nigerian Universities as a Trade Union under the Trade Union Act.
“A declaration is hereby made that the refusal of the first and second defendants to register the claimant’s National Association of Non-Teaching Staff of Nigerian Universities as a Trade Union under the Trade Unions Act is wrongful.
“A mandatory order is hereby made directing the first and second defendants to register forthwith and/or to issue the claimant forthwith with the certificate of registration of the National Association of Non-Teaching Staff of Nigerian Universities as a Trade Union under the Trade Unions Act.”
The court also issued a perpetual injunction restraining the defendants, their agents, privies, assigns, or any person acting on their behalf from denying the association registration or taking steps capable of frustrating its recognition as a trade union.
The ruling marks a significant victory for the university workers’ group and is expected to reshape the landscape of non-teaching staff representation in Nigerian universities.
It was gathered that members of NANTS had broken away from the Non-Academic Staff Union of Universities to establish a separate platform dedicated to representing the interests of non-teaching workers in tertiary institutions. The association is said to have established branches across federal and state-owned universities nationwide.
With the court’s decision, NANTS is now positioned to function as a legally recognised trade union, enabling it to represent its members in labour negotiations, collective bargaining, and other industrial relations matters affecting non-teaching staff in Nigerian universities.