The President of the National Industrial Court, Justice Benedict Kanyip, has dismissed a suit filed by the Incorporated Trustees of the National Association of Plants Operators (NAPO) and two others against the Minister of Labour and Employment, the Registrar of Trade Unions, and the National Union of Civil Engineering Construction, Furniture & Wood Workers, ruling that the case is statute-barred.
The claimants had sought a declaration allowing NAPO to be registered as a trade union representing plant operators in Nigeria, relying on Section 40 of the Constitution and ILO Convention No. 87, despite provisions of the Trade Union Act.
During proceedings, the court raised the issue suo motu on whether the suit was caught by the Public Officers Protection Act (POPA), following the Supreme Court’s decision in Okoronkwo v. INEC (2025), and directed parties to address it.
NAPO argued that the suit was not statute-barred because its application for registration had been pending since 2013, and the Minister’s failure to act meant time had not begun to run. It also claimed that government inaction should not be used to deny it justice.
However, the 3rd defendant countered that the cause of action arose from the Minister’s refusal in November 2013 to register the union, not from any alleged failure to respond to appeals, and urged the court to dismiss the suit.
In his ruling, Justice Kanyip held that there was no proof that the alleged appeals were ever received by the Minister, and therefore the claim that time had not begun to run was untenable.
The court further held that the claimants had “slept over their rights” and could not avoid the application of POPA, as their action was filed far beyond the statutory three-month limitation period.
Justice Kanyip concluded that the suit was statute-barred under Section 2(a) of POPA and accordingly dismissed it.
... Industrial Court Dismisses NAPO’s Trade Union Registration Suit Against Labour Minister as Statute‑Barred ... Naijaonpoint.