The National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN) in Lagos has criticized the national leadership of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) for its decision not to recognize or engage with the Lagos State University (LASU) branch, led by Prof. Ibrahim Bakare.
The court’s ruling was delivered by Justice Sanda Yelwa in a case filed by Bakare and seven others against ASUU and three other defendants.
The suit, identified as NICN/318/2020, challenged the decision of the national ASUU to continue recognizing the former LASU ASUU executives, whose tenure had ended.
The claimants also disputed the national leadership’s directive preventing other branches from recognizing them as the new leaders of LASU ASUU.
Justice Yelwa ruled that the actions of the first to third defendants, including a meeting held in Enugu in March 2020, were illegal and invalid.
Specifically, the court declared that the ASUU leadership did not have the authority to stop the claimants from participating in academic activities, such as sabbaticals, part-time lectureships, and external collaborations.
The court also found that such restrictions infringed on the claimants’ academic freedom, a constitutional right.
The court further emphasized that members of the LASU ASUU branch had the right to select their own executive members.
As a result, the court issued a permanent injunction against the defendants, prohibiting them from interfering with the claimants’ academic freedom and rights.
In response to the ruling, Bakare described the dispute as an internal matter, now resolved by the court. He expressed readiness to work with the national ASUU leadership going forward.
