• NLC faults NICN granting govt, employers quick injunction 
• Kanyip, Ajaero, others advocate improved legal education for Labour justice

Oyo State High Court sitting in Ibadan, yesterday, extended its earlier order restraining the United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc from paying, releasing, or tampering with funds belonging to the 30 local councils of Osun State.
 
Meanwhile, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has criticised the National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN) over what it described as one-sided injunctions and ex parte orders, exclusively in favour of the government and employers, a move it said threatens harmonious industrial relations.
 
However, the President of NICN, Justice Benedict Kanyip, NLC President, Joe Ajaero, and other key stakeholders have called for improved legal education and stronger institutional frameworks to promote labour justice in Nigeria. The order of the Oyo court, presided over by Justice Ladiran Akintola, will remain in force until today, when the matter is scheduled for further hearing.
 
Justice Akintola said the extension became necessary to ensure that all parties in the case were granted the right to a fair hearing in line with Section 36 of the Constitution.
 
“The case is adjourned till Friday, October 10, 2025, for further hearing, while the interim injunction shall continue to subsist,” the judge ruled.
 
Earlier, counsel to the plaintiff, Musibau Adetunmbi (SAN), informed the court that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had filed an application seeking to be joined in the suit. He, however, disclosed that his team would oppose the application.
 
The senior advocate also noted that Kasim Gbadamosi (SAN), who holds the brief of Kunle Adegoke (SAN) for the All Progressives Congress (APC) ex-council chairmen, had filed a fresh application in addition to an earlier one on the same matter of joinder.
 
In his response, Gbadamosi stated that he intended to withdraw the new application, arguing that the issue of jurisdiction did not require a formal application.
 
Also, counsel to UBA, Mutalib Ojo (SAN), urged the court to adjourn the case sine die pending the determination of the matter at the apex court. After hearing all arguments, Justice Akintola adjourned the case till today for ruling. 

ON quick injunctions, the NLC said the orders, often obtained in haste, were routinely used to truncate the legitimate activities of workers and their unions, stating that the judicial tool, meant to preserve the status quo, had been weaponised to emasculate labour and tilt the balance of power decisively and unjustly against the workforce. 
 
Ajaero, in a goodwill message at this year’s public lecture by the NICN in Abuja, yesterday, said the matter required urgent remediation if the nation will make any meaningful progress towards true labour justice. He also raised what he described as a troubling one-sidedness in the judicial application of Section 40 of the Constitution. 
 
He said while the right of individuals to belong to the political party and religion of their choice was vigorously protected, the correlative right to belong to the trade union of one’s choice appears to be treated with less judicial fervour. 
 
He said the NICN, as the specialised court vested with the jurisdiction over our labour laws, must take cognisance of the constitutional provision in its entirety and consistently deliver justice, affirming that the freedom of association was as fundamental in the workplace as it is in the polling booth or the place of worship. 

JUSTICE Kanyip, in his welcome address, stressed that labour justice could not thrive where ignorance of the law prevails. Kanyip, therefore, called for the popularisation of labour laws in our schools to enable more people to become acquainted with what the laws say and what roles are expected of them in matters of labour relations.
 
He said: “We are covering the field to interrogate the principles of Labour justice and labour law education. Labour justice and labour law education are intertwined concepts. 
 
The NICN president linked the increase in workplace conflicts to a widespread lack of understanding of labour laws by both employers and workers.
Speaking for the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Iyen Adegbe, who represented the president, Festus Osifo, cautioned that weak labour justice systems could destabilise the country’s social stability.
 
He emphasised that better legal awareness among both employers and workers would help prevent frequent industrial disputes. The keynoter, Prof Ademola Popoola, highlighted that Nigeria’s labour laws were still largely rooted in colonial-era statutes.