The Ambrose Alli University chapter of the Academic Staff Union of Universities has filed a lawsuit in the Industrial Court of Nigeria in Benin, the capital of Edo State, against the institution’s management over what it deems to be the selective payment of workers’ January and February 2022 salaries.
In the suit numbered NICN/BEN/04/2022, filed on June 22, 2022, the AAU chapter of the ASUU accused the management of the institution of contempt of court orders dated February 2 and May 17, 2022, mandating the payment of January and February 2022 salaries to members of the ASUU who were displeased with the biometric verification exercise.
Chairman, ASUU, AAU Ekpoma chapter, Dr. Cyril Onogbosele, and the Assistant Secretary, Dr. William Odion, were plaintiffs in the suit, along with ASUU, against six defendants, including the acting Vice-Chancellor of the university, Prof. Asomwan Adagbonyin, and the acting Registrar, Mr. Ambrose Odase.
Abayomi Thomas, counsel for the plaintiffs, cited “Motion on notice brought pursuant to Order 63, Rules 5 (1), 5(3), and 6 of the National Industrial Court Rules 2017” in the lawsuit and asked the court to institute contempt proceedings against the management and grant the plaintiffs any other relief deemed appropriate by the court.
Recently, the AAU branch of ASUU and the management of the state-owned university have been at loggerheads over the suspension of union activities by the latter.
Newsclickng.com had reported that the Edo State Government at its State Executive Council meeting on June 8, 2022, suspended all union activities across all state-owned institutions of higher learning, which was swiftly contested in court by ASUU.
