213 | P a g e THE EXCLUSIVE JURISDICTION OF THE NATIONAL INDUSTRIAL COURT IN FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS PROCEEDINGS RELATING TO EMPLOYMENT, LABOUR & INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS: EXAMINATION OF S. 254C(1)(D) OF CFRN 1999

Abstract

Often times litigants and lawyers are unaware of the exclusive jurisdiction vested on the National Industrial Court to hear and determine the fundamental rights applications that arose from substantive matters relating to or connected with employment, labour, industrial relation1s, trade unionism, employers’ association or any matter which the court has jurisdiction to hear and determine. This is one of the remarkable innovations introduced in our fundamental rights jurisprudence by virtue of section 254c(1) (d) of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 as amended. This knowledge gap on the game changing provisions has led to many fundamental rights applications being struck out by the Federal, State High Courts or High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, as the case may be: as ignorance of the law is not an excuse which is expressed in the Latinism, lex ignorantia, non juris excusat. The above gave rise to this paper aimed at examining and bringing to the fore this novel provisions of Section 254c(i) (d) of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, as amended, so that legal practitioners and the citizen will be abreast of the proper channel to ventilate any labour-related fundamental rights violations, as no compliance to this constitutional provisions goes to the root of the jurisdiction, and seals the fate of any fundamental rights suit filed in any other court, other than the National Industrial Court2. This is a recondite issue of law that touches on the issue of jurisdiction, which can be raised for the first time on appeal, even at the Supreme Court. A knowledge of this position of the law on fundamental rights litigants will be an eye opener and of immense benefit to the body of knowledge; as cases of such nature will not be struck, having been ventilated through the appropriate window, given the operative word “Notwithstanding” employed by the legislative draftman in couching the provisions of Section 254c(1) of the constitution. It is expected that litigants and their counsel will be properly guided by this paper, to avoid their fundamental rights actions being struck out for want of jurisdiction.
Key words: Fundamental right National Industrial Court, Jurisdiction