He also accused the government of regularly flouting court decisions while demanding that other institutions strictly conformed to judicial rulings.
The Nigerian Trade Union Congress (TUC) has claimed that it did not receive any court order restraining it from embarking on the ongoing nationwide strike that began on Tuesday.
TUC President, Festus Osifo, who spoke on Channels Television’s programme, made this known on Wednesday.
He also accused the government of regularly flouting court decisions while demanding that other institutions strictly conformed to judicial rulings.
“Yes, we don’t have a service on the court order but we have a government today who perpetually does not obey court orders. When DSS was holding Emefiele, how many court orders were passed for Emefiele to be released? Countless number of them.”
The labour leader added that once they received a court order regarding the ongoing strike, they would consult with their legal team and make a decision accordingly.
“We have a state that refuses to obey court orders. You now expect others to obey court orders but once we see it, we are responsible institutions, we will not say because the Federal Government continuously violate court institution, we will examine it and if it is the right thing for us to do, yes, we will,” he said.
The Nigeria Labour Congress and the TUC on Monday ordered their affiliates to withdraw their services nationwide from midnight on November 14, 2023.
In response to this, the Nigerian government, the Attorney General of the Federation, and the Minister of Justice filed an ex-parte application praying the court to stop the unions from embarking on the planned strike.
In his decision, Justice Benedict Kanyip, President of the Court, invoked Sections 17 and 19 of the National Industrial Court Act and ordered the unions to end their statewide strike.
The unions throughout the country went on strike on Tuesday to seek justice for the assault on NLC President Joe Ajaero, which occurred on November 1, 2023, in Owerri, the capital of Imo State.
Workers from various states joined the strike, which halted operations at several government-owned facilities.
As the strike progressed, some workers chose to continue with their regular jobs, resulting in partial compliance in some states.