By CrossRiverWatch Admin
The Organised Labour in Cross River State has accused the Attorney General of fraudulently obtaining the court order from the National Industrial Court stopping the indefinite industrial action declared by the unions in the State.
“We wish to inform you and the general public that the government, through the office of the Attorney General, fraudulently obtained a court order on the 20th of October 2021,” read Bulletin 11 of the current industrial action released on Monday.
Government House Calabar had through its channels, shared a story suggesting that Justice Sanusi Kardo of the Industrial Court of Nigeria, sitting in Calabar had in a ruling, held that, “the strike action embarked upon by the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) in the State did not comply with S.18 of the trade dispute Act.”
The Head of Service in the State, Geraldine Akpet-Ekanem will, hours later, issue a statement with reference number GO/HOS/99/Vol.1/152 directing “all Permanent Secretaries and workers to resume work unfailingly on Thursday, 21st October 2021, at 8am.”
But, like the earlier statement, this was not adhered to, and the strike action continued.
And, organised labour says it had seen this coming, as stated in Bulletin 9.
“Not even a court order can break our determination to get justice from the government,” read paragraph 3 of that Bulletin titled, “A Government With No Conscience.”
“The court was deceived to grant the order, and we have file (sic) the necessary papers challenging the court order,” Labour said in its Bulletin 11.
Labour said it is, “our right to appropriately guide the court in granting a just and equitable justice to everyone that approaches it. We have followed the laws of the in doing so.”
Meanwhile, following a breakdown in negotiations between the executive arm of government with Labour, the legislative arm met with the leadership of the unions on Monday, with no information about the outcome of the meeting made public.