News
Wabba’s Outburst Spurious, Malicious -RSG
…Warns Labour Against Contempt Of Court
…Says Interim Injunction Properly Served On NLC, TUC
The Rivers State Government has dismissed the outburst by the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Ayuba Wabba, on the court proceedings in relation to the ongoing labour dispute between the state government and organized labour in the state, describing it as spurious, unfounded and malicious.
A statement signed by the state Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Prof Zacheaus Adangor, in Port Harcourt, yesterday, reads, “The attention of the Rivers State Government has been drawn to an audio message being circulated on the social media and credited to Comrade Ayuba P. Wabba, President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC).
“For the records, the said Comrade Ayuba P. Wabba is the 3rd defendant in Suit No. NICN/LA/305/2020 (Attorney-General, Rivers State v. Nigeria Labour Congress and 5 Others) now pending before the National Industrial Court, Lagos (sitting as a vacation court).
“In the said audio message, Comrade Ayuba P. Wabba made a number of spurious, unfounded and malicious allegations against me and the Office of the Honourable Attorney-General of Rivers State in relation to the proceedings in the aforesaid Suit No. NICN/LA/305/2020 with a view to ridiculing the judicial process and impugning the authority and integrity of the court.
“It must be emphasized that ordinarily, it would not have been necessary to honour Comrade Ayuba Wabba with a response.
“However, given the seriousness of the issues raised in his putrid audio message as they appertain to our court of law and the administration of justice, it has become absolutely necessary to set the records straight.
“Contrary to the offensive assertion in the audio message that the Honourable Attorney-General of Rivers State ‘claimed’ to have obtained an Order of Interim Injunction from the National Industrial Court, the truth of the matter is that the National Industrial Court, Lagos Division (coram Hon. Justice N. C. S. Ogbuanya, J.) sitting as a vacation Judge, actually granted an Order of Interim Injunction in favour of the claimant/applicant and against the defendants on 1st September, 2020, in the following terms:
“An Order of Interim Injunction is hereby granted restraining the Defendants herein either by themselves or through their servants, agents, privies, officers or otherwise howsoever called from embarking on a strike action in Rivers State on 5th, 6th or 7th September, 2020 or any other date whether earlier or later, pending the hearing and determination of the Motion on Notice for interlocutory Injunction filed contemporaneously herewith;
“An Order of Interim Injunction is hereby granted restraining the Defendants either by themselves or through their servants, agents, privies, officers or otherwise howsoever from stopping, hindering, preventing, disrupting and/or interfering in any manner whatsoever with the provision of service and other works by their members in the civil and public service of the claimant/applicant pending the hearing and determination of the substantive Motion on Notice for interlocutory injunction already filed.
“Given the urgency, and in line with Order 7 Rule 1 (9) of the Rules of this Court, leave is hereby granted the claimant/applicant to serve the Originating Summons, Motion on Notice and all other processes in this Suit on the Defendants along with the Interim Order herein granted, by publication in two national newspapers circulating in Nigeria, in the event that prompt service of the court processes and the Interim Order, herein, cannot be effected on the trade unions herein, as prescribed under Order 7 Rule 1 (1) (h) (ii) of the Rules of this court before the return date of further proceedings.
“To be sure, the enrolled Order of Interim Injunction has been duly served on all the defendants in accordance with the provisions of the National Industrial Court of Nigeria (Civil Procedure) Rules, 2017, and in compliance with paragraph 3 of the enrolled Order of the Honourable Court.
“The allegation made by Comrade Ayuba Wabba that the enrolled Order of Interim Injunction has not been served on the defendants, is therefore, not only mendacious but also laughable.
“Comrade Ayuba Wabba claims that the organized labour is not embarking on a strike action but rather a “national protest in Rivers State. The word ‘protest’ is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary (2nd Edition, 2010) page 601 to mean inter alia: ‘an organized public demonstration objecting to an official policy’.
“The adjective ‘national’ which qualifies the protest being threatened by the organized labour in Rivers State, underscores the fact that protesters will be drawn from across the Federation of Nigeria. Clearly, a national protest, will invariably occasion or involve the stoppage, disruption and/or interference with the provision of service and other works by members of the organized labour in the civil and public service of the Government of Rivers State contrary to the terms of the subsisting Order of Interim Injunction granted against the defendants, including Comrade Wabba. Nothing could be more contemptuous of the Honourable Court!
“Comrade Wabba has further claimed that the Honourable Attorney-General of Rivers State has ‘boasted that he can procure any order of the court at will’. This allegation which is the product of a warped mind, shows that Comrade Wabba has no scintilla of respect for the judicial process in our courts.
“First, orders of court are not ‘procured’ but issued, made or granted by the court as the circumstances of each case may justify. Second, the Honourable Attorney-General of Rivers State has never met Comrade Wabba in his life and could not have boasted to him about his capacity to obtain court orders at will.
“The statement is thus a figment of Comrade Wabba’s imagination contrived to give colour to his threatened act of brazen illegality. Finally, the Hon. Attorney-General of Rivers State has never boasted before any official or member of the organized labour in Rivers State that he could ‘procure any order of the court at will’ either as alleged or at all.
“That irresponsible statement is not only an underserved attack on the office of the Honourable Attorney- General of Rivers State but also a veiled attack on our Judiciary. This is unfortunate.
“Finally, it is utterly false that the Honourable Attorney-General of Rivers State abducted and/or held any labour leader in Rivers State captive at the Rivers State Government House, Port Harcourt.
“Comrade Wabba should inform Nigerians whether any complaint has been lodged with the police against the Honourable Attorney-General in respect of the alleged abduction.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the organized labour is not a state within a state. On the contrary, it is a body created by law and is bound by the same law that gives its existence legal validity.
“The case of the Government of Rivers State before the National Industrial Court is that the organized labour cannot declare a strike action in Rivers State without strict compliance with the conditions precedent prescribed in the Trade Disputes Act, Cap, T8, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004, and the Trade Unions Act, Cap. T14 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.
“Our commitment to the enthronement of the rule of law in our state rather than rule by force, informed our decision to seek judicial redress against the organized labour.
“The Government of Rivers State will not engage in any act of illegality in confronting the monster of lawlessness which the organized labour now appears to epitomize”, Adangor added.
However, the Rivers State Government says the organised labour in Rivers State would be charged with contempt of court, if they proceeded with their planned protest and strike, tomorrow.
The state Commissioner for Information and Communications, Pastor Paulinus Nsirim, who said this at a media briefing in his office in Port Harcourt, said the organised labour would be going against the law in view of an injunction restraining it from going ahead with the planned protest.
It would be recalled that the two umbrella unions had said in Abuja, last Thursday, that they would lead the leaderships of all affiliate unions to storm Rivers State from September 8, 2020, on a protest march against what they described as “despotic rule and development of violence against workers by the Governor Nyesom Wike-led administration”.
The commissioner described the plan by the organised labour as unfortunate, as according to him, the administration of Governor Nyesom Wike was not lawless.
Nsirim pointed out that, there was an interim injunction from the National Industrial Court, Lagos Division, restraining labour from any form of protest or strike, adding that since the matter was already in court, the state government would not join issues with labour.
“You are all aware of some recent developments in the state where the NLC is threatening to go on strike. The Rivers State Government, under the able leadership of Chief Nyesom Wike, believes strongly in the rule of law.
“On the 1st of September, 2020, the Rivers State Government obtained an order of interim injunction from the National Industrial Court presided over by Hon. Justice N.C.S. Ogbuanya, in Suit No: NICN/LA/305/2020.
“The Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Rivers State, Prof Zacchaeus Adangor obtained this injunction on behalf of the Rivers State Government”, Nsirim explained.
He listed those joined in the suit pending at the Lagos court, a copy of which was made available to The Tide, as the NLC President, Comrade Ayuba Wabba and his counterpart in the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Comrade Quandri Olaleye; Rivers State NLC Chairman, Comrade Beatrice Itubo; and the state TUC Chairman, Comrade Austin Jonah.
Nsirim further said the interim injunction has been served to the defendants as well as the originating summons ahead of the hearing scheduled for September 8; adding that in obedience to the court order, the state government had published the order of injunction in two national dallies on Thursday, September 3, 2020; warning the unions to be ready to face the law, if they go ahead with the protest.
Similarly, the Rivers State Government has reiterated its readiness to move the court to issue Form 48 conveying Notice of Consequence of Disobedience to Court Order on the leaderships of organized labour in Rivers State, if they insist on embarking on protest as a result of not being served, in-person, the court injunction restraining the unions from the protest billed for tomorrow.
Briefing journalists in Government House, Port Harcourt, the Rivers State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Prof. Zacchaeus Adangor, said every disobedience of an order of court constitutes Contempt of Court, adding that the court that issued the order possesses both statutory and inherent powers to punish the culprits for disobedience of its order by committing the party (s) in default to prison until they purge themselves of the contempt.
He warned the organized labour against any act of overt or subtle disobedience of the subsisting orders of the National Industrial Court, adding that there shall be consequences for disobedience.
Adangor pointed out that in the circumstance, the defendants in Suit Nos. NICN/PH/41/2020 and NICN/LA/305/2020, were bound to comply strictly with the terms of the subsisting orders of interim injunction issued by the courts, insisting that they were bound to refrain from carrying out or purporting to carry out, embark upon or proceed with the strike action in Rivers State whether on September 8, 2020, or on any earlier or later date.
The address read at the briefing, titled, “Text Of A Press Conference Held By The Hon. Attorney-General And Commissioner For Justice, Rivers State, Prof. Zacchaeus Adangor At Government House, Port Harcourt, On Saturday, September 5, 2020, On The Legal Aspects Of The Threatened Strike Action By Organized Labour In Rivers State”, states: “Sometime on or about the 16th day of March, 2020, the Rivers State Councils of the Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress of Nigeria issued a ‘Notice of Seven (7) Days Ultimatum for the Commencement of an Indefinite Strike Action in Rivers State by the Organized Labour’. See Annexure ‘A’.
“From the Notice of Seven (7) Days Ultimatum (Annexure ‘A’), the indefinite strike action was scheduled to commence midnight of Monday, 23rd March, 2020.
“It is important to mention that in issuing the Notice of Seven Days Ultimatum for the Commencement of Strike Action in Rivers State, the Rivers State Councils of the Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, failed, refused and/or neglected to fulfil the condition precedent for the declaration of strike action as prescribed in Sections 4, 6 and 18 (1) (a) of the Trade Disputes Act, Cap. T8, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.
“Consequently, the Government of Rivers State through the Honourable Attorney-General instituted Suit No. NICN/PH/41/2020 (Attorney-General Rivers State v. Comrade Beatrice Itubo, JP) at the National Industrial Court, Port Harcourt, by way of Originating Summons seeking the interpretation of the provisions of the Trade Disputes Act, Cap. T8 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria (LFN) 2004 and the Trade Unions Act, Cap. T14 LFN 2004 in relation to the threatened strike action by the defendants. The Honourable Attorney, as claimant, seeks declaratory and injunctive reliefs against the defendants on records.
“Given the extreme urgency of the matter, the Attorney-General also filed an Ex-parte Application for interim injunction restraining the defendants in Suit No. NICN/PH/41/2020, from commencing, embarking on or proceeding with the strike action.
By: John Bibor & Enoch Epelle
Rivers State Head of Service, Dr (Mrs) Inyingi Brown, has called on rural communities in the State to embrace the Rural Access and Agricultural marketing project (RAAMP) with a view to improving their living conditions.
This follows the ongoing sensitization campaign by the State Project Implementation Unit (SPIU) visits to Degema, Abonnema, Afam headquarters of Degema, Akuku Toru and Oyigbo Etche and Omuma local government areas respectively.
Dr Brown who was represented by the Deputy Director, Special Duties in her office, Mrs Dein Akpanah, said RAAMP was initiated by the Federal Government and World Bank to economically empower rural dwellers.s
She said the World Bank understands the plights of rural farmers and traders in the State, and therefore came up with the programme to address them.
According to her, RAAMP will improve the conditions of farmers, traders and fishermen, and therefore, behoves on every rural communities in the State to embrace the programme.
The Head of Service also said the programme would support the youths to be gainfully employed while bridges and roads will be built to link farms and fishing settlements.
Also speaking, the State project coordinator, Mr Joshua Kpakol, said the programme has the potential of creating millionaires among farmers and fishermen in the State.
Kpakol who was represented by Engr. Sam Tombari, said RAAMP would help farmers and fishermen to preserve their produce.
According to him, the project will build cold rooms and Silos for preservation of crops and fishes while access roads will also be created to link farmers and fishermen to the market.
He, however, warned them against any act that will lead to the suspension of the projects by the World Bank.
Kpakol particularly warned against acts such as kidnapping, marching ground, gender based violence and child labour, adding that such acts if they occur may lead to the cancellation of the project by the World Bank.
During the visit to Oyigbo local government area, Mr Joshua Kpakol, said the team was there to let them know how they will benefit from the Raamp.
The coordinator who was personally at Oyigbo said the World Bank introduced the project to check food insecurity in the State.
He said already 19 states in Nigeria are already benefitting from the project and called on them to embrace the project.
Meanwhile, stakeholders in the three local government areas have commended the World Bank for including their areas in the project.
They, however, complained over the incessant attacks by pirates on their waterways.
At Degema, King Agolia of Ke kingdom said land was a major problem in the kingdom.
King Agolia represented by High Chief Alpheus Damiebi said many indigenes of the kingdom are willing to go into farming but are handicapped by lack of land.
Also at Degema, the representative of the Omu Onyam Ekeim of Usokun Degema kingdom, Osoabo Isaac, said Degema has embraced the programme but needed more information on the implementation of the programme.
Similarly, while High Chief Precious Abadi advised that the project should not be narrowed to only crop farming, a community women leader, Mrs Orikinge Eremabo Otto, called for the construction of cold rooms in all fishing settlements in the area.
At Abonnema, Mr Diamond Kio linked the problem of the area to incessant piracy along waterways.
He also expressed fears over the possibility of the project being hijacked by politicians.
Also at Abonnema, a stakeholder, Ikiriko Kelvin, called on the World Bank to design an agricultural project that will suit the riverine environment, while at Oyigbo, HRH Eze Boniface Akawo expressed satisfaction with the project.
John Bibor
The political mudslinging between the Senate leadership and Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan continued yesterday as the Senate named Senator Aniekan Bassey as the new Chairman of the Committee on Diaspora and Non-Governmental Organisations.
Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, announced the appointment during yesterday’s plenary, confirming Bassey’s replacement of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, who is currently on suspension.
Akpoti-Uduaghan was reassigned to the Diaspora and NGOs Committee in February after she was removed as Chair of the Senate Committee on Local Content during a minor reshuffle.
Bassey is the senator representing Akwa Ibom North-East Senatorial District.
Although no reason was given for her removal yesterday, the change is believed to be connected to her unresolved suspension.
In May, Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court ordered her reinstatement and directed her to tender an apology to the Senate.
However, the Senate has insisted it has not received a certified true copy of the court judgment.
Akpoti-Uduaghan who represents Kogi Central, has yet to resume her legislative duties despite a recent court ruling that voided her suspension.
In a televised interview on Tuesday, Akpoti-Uduaghan said she was awaiting the Certified True Copy of the judgment before officially returning to plenary, citing legal advice and respect for institutional process.
Although the Federal High Court described her suspension as “excessive and unconstitutional”, a legal opinion dated July 5 and attributed to the Senate’s counsel, Paul Daudu (SAN), argued that the ruling lacked any binding directive to enforce her reinstatement.
Akpoti-Uduaghan, one of only three female senators in the current assembly, said the continued delay in allowing her return was not only a denial of her mandate but also a blow to democratic representation.
“By keeping me out of the chambers, the Senate is not just silencing Kogi Central, it’s denying Nigerian women and children representation. We are only three female senators now, down from eight,” she said.