The Legal Counsel for the Academic Staff Union of Universities, Mr. Femi Falana, SAN has reacted to the ruling of the Court of Appeal, YOMSDIRECT gathered. The information reads below;Section 243(4) of the amended Constitution provides as follows”Without prejudice to the provisions of section 254C (5) of this Constitution the decision of the Court of Appeal in respect of any appeal arising from *any civil jurisdiction* of the National Industrial Court shall be final.
The finality of the court of appeal on trade union and labour matters does not permit the Justices of the court to issue orders that violate the constitutional right of citizens to appeal against the decisions of the National Industrial Court.It is trite that no court in Nigeria has the power to extinguish the right of an aggrieved citizen to appeal or impose a condition that is unknown to the Constitution before the right of appeal is exercised. However, the struggle of ASUU is both legal and political. The the law is on the side of ASUU. The right to take part in a strike is recognised by the Trade Disputes Act. The right of appeal is guaranteed by the Constitution.Without sounding arrogant, I wish to assure colleagues that the conditional leave to appeal will be challenged at the appropriate judicial forum. Otherwise, it will become a dangerous precedent. Meanwhile, we have not been furnished with a ctc of the order of the Appeal. Once that is done, hopefully, on Tuesday, we shall advise our clients. But let me sure colleagues that the crisis will be resolved outside the courts as soon as possible