Honourable Justice D. E. Osiagor of the Lagos High Court yesterday ordered Bola-
Audu Innocent and his cohorts to vacate the National Secretariat of Association of
Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria in Lagos immediately or face the wrath of the law.
In a judgment handed down on Wednesday October 26, 2022, Justice Osiagor ruled that it was an abuse of court process for Bola-Audu and his fellow travellers to bring a trade union matter already being handled by the National
Industrial Court (NIC) in Abuja to his court.
A statement signed by the Secretary-General, Alade Bashir Lawal, said the judge, accordingly, vacated and discharged his earlier order, which allowed Bola Audu entry into the secretariat.
The leamed judge also lifted the embargo placed on the bank accounts of the Association and restored Comrade ‘Tommy Etim Okon PhD and Comrade Alade Bashir Lawal, the National President and the Secretary-General of the Union respectively as the authentic and legal signatories to the bank accounts of the
Association.
Justice Osiagor held that since the matter before him is an intra-union dispute, he had no jurisdiction to enter trial, moreso because the applicant himself had taken his case to the NIC in Abuja where he is praying the court to compel appropriate organs of the union to revoke his suspension and expulsion and reinstate him as the National Pres ident of the Association.
The learned judge described the case brought before him by Bola Audu as forum shopping and abuse of court processes.
He, accordingly, dismissed the case for lack of jurisdiction.
Recall that the Bola-Audu group had invaded the Secretariat last Saturday, accompanied by armes policeman, claiming to have received an order from the court to take possession of the secretariat.
