Court re-affirms sack of NULGE president, others

The National Industrial Court (NIC) has re-affirmed the sack of the National President of the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE), Alhaji Ibrahim Khaleel, and all the state executive councils of the union whose tenures were elongated from four to six years at its national delegates’ conference held in 2016 in Akure, Ondo State.

Justice Simisola Adeniyi of the Kaduna division of the court, in a suit filed by some aggrieved members of the Kaduna State branch of NULGE, declared that the earlier judgment by the Owerri, Imo State division of the court was in order.
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The Owerri court had held that all officers of the union elected into office in 2014 on the basis of the 2005 Constitution of NULGE for a four-year tenure, were entitled only to the stipulated four years. Alhaji Khaleel fell into that cadre.

The Kaduna case was filed in the name of the Kaduna State branch of the union, Rayyanu Turunku, and five others against Adamu Sanni and six others, who represented the state NULGE Caretaker Committee.

The caretaker committee was elected and sworn into office after the Owerri judgment sacked the former executives, but the faction supporting those whose offices were nullified challenged the emergence of the committee.

They urged the court, among other prayers, to give a perpetual injunction restraining the caretaker team from parading themselves as officers of the union, executing and/or carrying out any function in the name of the union.

The claimants also asked the court to declare that the judgment of the Owerri division is not applicable to them on the ground that they were not parties to it.

The defendants, however, objected to the prayers on the ground that the Owerri judgment is relevant, subsisting and binding on them since they all belonged to NULGE and are officers elected into office in 2014 on the basis of NULGE’s 2005 Constitution for a four-year tenure and had served out their term, as settled by the Owerri judgment.

They argued that the Owerri decision was not appealed and they did not obtain any stay of execution, adding that the suit was an abuse of court princesses.

The defendants urged the court to dismiss the suit. Justice Adeniyi agreed with the position of the defendants and reaffirmed the decision in the Owerri suit.