Observation (CEACR) - adopted 1997, published 86th ILC session (1998)

Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) - Nigeria (Ratification: 1960)

The Committee notes the statement made by the Government representative to the Conference Committee on the Application of Standards in June 1997, the additional information provided by the Government to the Committee, the discussion which followed and the resulting special paragraph in the Conference Committee's report for continued failure to implement the Convention. The Committee further notes with deep regret from the examination of Case No. 1793 by the Committee on Freedom of Association in its 308th Report (approved by the Governing Body at its 270th Session (November 1997)), that the Government has not yet accepted the suggestion of a direct contacts mission. Finally, the Committee notes with regret that it has not received any report from the Government on the application of the Convention, despite the request made by the Conference Committee in this respect.

I. Article 2: The right to organize for academic staff unions and associations. In its previous comments, the Committee noted with deep concern that the Trade Disputes (Essential Services Deregulation, Proscription and Prohibition from Participation in Trade Union Activities) Decree and the Trade Disputes (Essential Services) (Proscription) Order 1996 of 21 August 1996 proscribed and prohibited the participation in any trade union activities of the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU), the Academic Staff Union of Universities and the Senior Staff Association of Universities, Teaching Hospitals, Research Institutes and Associated Institutions and dissolved the National Executive Council and the Branch Executive Councils operating within any university in Nigeria in contravention of Articles 2 and 4 of the Convention. The Committee notes the Government's indication that the above-mentioned Order was the result of the protracted closure of Nigerian universities for a period over six months and the refusal of the unions to settle the dispute which precipitated a national crisis contrary to Article 8 of the Convention.

While noting the Government's indication that trade union recognition has been restored to NASU by Decree No. 26 of 1996, it would appear that the Government is merely referring to the fact that NASU is included in the list of 29 restructured trade unions affiliated to the Central Labour Organization. The Committee is not however aware of any subsequent decree repealing the Proscription Order of 1996 which prohibited the trade union activities of three university unions. The Committee therefore requests the Government to take the necessary measures to repeal this Order so as to guarantee the right to organize and to carry out trade union activities of the three above-mentioned unions.

II. Article 2: The right to establish and join the organization of one's own choosing and to be protected from administrative dissolution. As concerns the restructuring of the previous 41 registered industrial unions into 29 trade unions affiliated to the Central Labour Organization (named in the law as the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC)) through the promulgation of the Trade Unions (Amendment) Decree No. 4 of 5 January 1996, the Committee notes the Government's emphasis on the fact that these measures were taken in response to a voluntary request by the NLC. Observing that this Decree provides for the establishment of a determined number of trade unions for each occupational category according to a pre-established list further confirming the system of trade union monopoly, the Committee recalls that the organization having made this request has been run by a government-appointed administrator since 1994. In this regard, the Committee recalls that Article 2 of the Convention provides that workers and employers shall have the right to establish and join organizations of their own choosing. The Committee therefore requests the Government to take the necessary measures to amend its legislation in order to apply fully Article 2 of the Convention.

III. Article 3: Conditions of eligibility. As concerns the requirement that officers of a trade union be card-carrying members which in turn must be engaged in the trade or industry which the union represents under punishment of a fine and/or five years' imprisonment (sections 7 and 8 of Decree No. 26), the Committee would recall that provisions requiring members of trade unions to belong to the occupation concerned coupled with a requirement that the officers of the organization be chosen from among its members entails a serious risk of interference by the employer through the dismissal of trade union officers in order to deprive them of their trade union office and is not in conformity with the organization's right to elect representatives in full freedom as it prevents qualified persons, such as full-time union officers or pensioners, from carrying out union duties or by depriving unions of the benefit of the experience of certain officers when they are unable to provide enough qualified persons from among their own ranks (see 1994 General Survey on freedom of association, paragraph 117). The Committee therefore requests the Government to amend these provisions either by admitting as candidates persons who have previously been employed in the occupation concerned, or by exempting from the occupational requirement a reasonable proportion of the officers of an organization.

IV. Article 4: Dissolution or suspension by administrative authorities. The Committee cannot but note with the deepest concern that Decrees Nos. 9 and 10 of August 1994 dissolving the executive councils of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) respectively have not been repealed and that these unions, after over three years now, are still being run by a single administrator appointed by the Government. It urges the Government to take the necessary measures immediately to bring the law and practice into conformity with the provisions of the Convention, particularly by repealing the above-mentioned Decrees, and to re-establish for workers' and employers' organizations the right to organize and the right to elect representatives in full freedom, without interference by the public authorities.

As concerns section 8 of Decree No. 4 of 1996 which provides that "no question as to the validity of any act taken by any person or authority in pursuance of this Act shall be entertained by any court of law or tribunal in Nigeria", the Committee notes the Government's indication that, within the context of the Nigerian Constitution and the on-going transition to the civil rule programme of the federal Government, the provisions of this Decree arise from the need to create an enabling environment for public safety, order and morality that would engender resilient and lasting industrial peace and harmony in the country and assist the successful prosecution of the on-going democratization programme in Nigeria. The Committee further notes that section 3 of Decree No. 26 of 16 October 1996 also amends the Trade Unions Act so as to make any decisions to cancel registration only appealable to the Minister. This gives rise to particular concern when read with the further amendments in this Decree which provide that the Minister may, due to overriding public interest, revoke the certificate of registration of any trade union specified in the Schedule to the Act (section 3) and under section 7, may revoke registration in the event that a non-card-carrying member assumes a functional role in any of the policy or decision-making organs.

Recalling that according to Article 4 of the Convention, workers and employers should not be liable to dissolution by administrative authorities, the Committee requests the Government to amend both Decrees Nos. 4 and 26 by repealing the powers of the Minister to dissolve organizations and by enabling workers and their organizations to appeal to the courts concerning any cancellation or denial of registration.

Regarding the omission of 25 previously registered and recognized trade unions of senior staff and ten employers' associations from the list of registered organizations, the Committee notes the Government's indication that the list established in the Third Schedule of Decree No. 4 refers only to the organizations affiliated to the NLC and does not in any way affect the registration of the senior staff associations or of the employers' associations.

V. Article 5: International affiliation. The Committee notes with regret the adoption of the Trade Unions (International Affiliation) Decree No. 29 of 1996 which, similar to the previous Decree of 1989, annuls the international affiliation of the Central Labour Organization and all registered trade unions with any international labour organization or trade secretariat other than the Organization of African Trade Union Unity, the Organization of Trade Unions for West Africa and any other international labour organization for which a specific application has been made and approval given by the Provisional Ruling Council. Any subsequent international affiliation is therefore subject to prior approval. Furthermore, any contravention of this Decree may be punishable by up to five years' imprisonment and the certificate of registration of the offending trade union shall be revoked. The Committee recalls in this regard that international solidarity of workers and employers requires that their national federations and confederations be able to group together and act freely at the international level; a right provided for under Articles 5 and 6 of the Convention (see 1994 General Survey, paragraph 198). The Committee therefore requests the Government to take the necessary measures to amend the legislation so as to ensure that workers' organizations have the right to affiliate with the international organization of their own choosing without prior authorization.

[The Government is asked to supply full particulars to the Conference Committee at its 86th Session.]