CORAM

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M.L. UWAIS, CHIEF JUSTICE, NIGERIA

I.L. WALI JUSTICE, SUPREME COURT

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PARTIES

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1. THE REGISTERED TRUSTEES OF NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF COMMUNITY HEALTH PRACTITIONERS OF NIGERIA2. HONOURABLE MINISTER OF LABOUR AND PRODUCTIVITY3. THE REGISTRAR OF TRADE UNIONS. APPELLANTS

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RESPONDENTS

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AREA(S) OF LAW

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SUMMARY OF FACTS

The 1st appellant was refused registration and filed an action contending that the refusal was against the ILO Convention. The respondent had applied to be joined in the action because they represented a similar interest which the 1st appellant sought to represent.

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HELD

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The court dismissed the appeal.

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ISSUES

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1. Whether the learned justices of the court below were right in setting aside reliefs (i) (ii) and (v) granted in favour of the appellant by the trial court on the ground that the appellant did not prove her entitlement to same having regard to the alleged non denial of paragraph 7 of the counter-affidavit of the 1st respondent which was clearly not so on record.2. Whether the learned justices of the court below correctly interpreted the provisions of Sections 3 and 5 of the Trade Union Act Cap 437 vis-à-vis the provisions of Section 40 of the 1999 Constitution and the decision of this court in the case of Osawe v. Registrar of Trade Unions (1985) 1 NWLR (Pt. 4) 255 when the facts, circumstances and antecedent of the case were totally different from the facts of the present case.3. Whether the learned justices of the court below were not wrong in the view their Lordships took that relief No. (iii) was not properly granted in favour of the appellant by the trial judge on the ground that the provisions of Clauses 87 and 89 of the International Labour Organization Convention have no legal force in Nigeria having not been ratified by the National Assembly even though signed by Nigeria, when the decision of the trial court to grant the relief was based on other valid grounds not considered by the court below.4. Whether their Lordships of the court below were right to have endorsed the ruling of the trial court that the 1st respondent was a proper party to the case, when it granted its application for joinder when in fact there was no relief claimed by the appellant against the 1st respondent, there was no counter claim by the 1st respondent and there was nothing in the case connecting it to the reliefs sought and granted by the trial court in favour of the appellant.5. Whether the ideals embodied in the ratified ILO conventions 87 and 98 have not become incorporated into Nigerian jurisprudence by virtue of similar rights preserved under cognate provisions in Municipal Trade Unions Acts and Legislations as to make its provisions justiceable in Nigerian Courts; and if not, whether recourse to the 1999 Constitution and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (Ratification and Enforcement) CAP 10 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 1990, containing identical provisions preserves a litigant’s rights, so as to negate the lower courts decision that the same have not been enacted into law and have no force of law in Nigeria.?

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RATIONES DECIDENDI

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CONSIDERATIONS FOR JOINDER OF PARTIES

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An applicant who desires to be joined as a party to a suit is required to show that he will be bound by the ultimate result of the action, as the orders in the judgment will affect it, and its interest will be prejudiced if it is not joined. Another test is that the action may not be completely settled without the party sought to be joined as a party in the suit- Mukhtar J.S.C.

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DUTY ON REGISTRAR OF TRADE UNION IN CONSIDERING AN APLLICATION FOR REGISTRATION OF TRADE UNION

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The Registrar of Trade Unions, on receiving an application to register any trade union, has a duty to ensure that there is no other registered trade union in existence which caters for the same interest as the one applying for registration – Onu J.S.C

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CASES CITED

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1. Abacha v. Fawehinmi (2000) 6 NWLR (Pt. 660) 228 at PP. 288 – 289 2. Long v. Crossley (1879) 13 Ch. D. 388 3. Coker v. Adeyemo & Anor. (1968) NMLR 323 at 324 4. Uku & Ors. v. Okumagba & Ors. (1974) 3 S.C. 35 at 60. 5. Green v. Green (1987) 3 NWLR (Pt.61) 480; (1987) NSCC 1115; (1987) 7 SCNJ. 262

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STATUTES REFERRED TO

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The 1999 ConstitutionTrade Union Act, Cap 437 of 1990

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