The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) will appeal the National Industrial Court’s decision ordering lecturers to end their strike.
ASUU’s lawyer, Femi Falana after the court’s ruling on Wednesday, said he is preparing the grounds of appeal.
The ASUU strike has continued to have an impact on the nation’s education, particularly in the tertiary sector, as academic activities in most government-owned universities have been halted for more than seven months.
In the midst of public outrage over the impact of the strike, and after seemingly exhausting all other options, the government decided to sue the union.
BizWatch Nigeria had reported that the Federal Government had filed an application for an interlocutory injunction, through its lead counsel, Mr James Igwe, seeking a court order prohibiting ASUU from continuing with the strike.
In a ruling on the government’s application, Justice Polycarp Hamman restrained ASUU from continuing with the strike pending the outcome of the lawsuit.
As a vacation judge, he ordered that the case file be returned to the president of the Industrial Court for reassignment to another judge.
ASUU strike, according to the judge, is harmful to public university students who cannot afford to attend private tertiary institutions.
He went on to say that the Trade Disputes Act forbids workers from going on strike once an issue has been referred to the industrial court.
Justice Hamman upheld the government’s application, saying it was meritorious and granted, but refused to fine the government as ASUU demanded.
