Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige has told the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) that he has the power to register the Congress for Nigerian University Academics (CONUA) and the Nigeria Association of Medical and Dental Academics (NAMDA) as unions in the nation’s university system.
According to him, the Trade Union Act 2004 gives him the sole power to register new trade unions, either by registering a new union or regrouping existing ones.
The minister then instructed the NLC to rescind its opposition to the registration of the two trade unions in the university system.
Note that the NLC had opposed the decision of the Federal Government to register CONUA and NAMDA as trade unions in the heat of the disagreement with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
NLC President Ayuba Wabba had, in a letter to the minister, urged the government to rescind the registration of the unions, citing a Supreme Court justice.
Wabba demanded the withdrawal of the letters issued to the unions because their registration contravened the laws guiding trade unionism.
But in a reply, dated October 12, 2022, Ngige urged the NLC to allow the new unions to exist in the spirit of Freedom of Association.
He explained that CONUA and NAMDA were regrouped from ASUU for efficiency and effectiveness in the system and, more importantly, to protect these groups of university teachers whose worldview differs from the restive parent union.
