BY OKEY NDIRIBE
ABUJA-The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has denied knowledge of any court action filed against it and therefore insists that it cannot abide by a judicial pronouncement in a matter in it was not involved.
This was contained in an e-mail sent to the press last night by the NLC Acting General Secretary Comrade Owei Lakemfa.
The NLC scribe Comrade Owei Lakemfa therefore urged all workers and Nigerians to ignore what it described as rumours obviously referring to a ruling by the National Industrial Court (NIC) stopping Labour from proceeding with next Monday’s strike.
According to the statement: “There are rumours circulating that the Jonathan administration has purchased a black market injunction possibly from the National Industrial Court (NIC).
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) is not aware of any such injunction; we were not served any paper of court appearance; we were not present in court nor were we represented in any capacity. Also, the NLC was not served any court summons nor were we served any court order.”
The NLC scribe continued: “The cretins in the Jonathan administration imagine that by seeking to drag the judiciary in the mud, they can avert the general strikes, rallies and mass protests that will begin on Monday 9th January, 2012. They cannot make the simple analysis that the whole populace is angry and that Nigerians do not need any group to ask them to protest an evil policy that seeks to impoverish them.”
He asked Nigerians to ignore this childish ploy and rumour adding there is no going back on next week’s protests and shutdown.
He continued:”The issue of the strikes, protests against an obnoxious policy, is not an industrial relations one; it is not between an employer and an employee. Rather it is one between the Nigerian People versus the Jonathan Government.”
“So if the issue was taken before the National Industrial Court, then it is the wrong place to shop for a black market injunction. To obtain an injunction from a court that has no competent jurisdiction is to try playing ping pong with the judiciary.“
He further stated that the constitutional and fundamental right of Nigerians to protest cannot be annulled.
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Nigerians should ignore any ‘black market injunction’ – NLC