The Hon President of the National Industrial Court, Hon. Justice Benedict Kanyip, OFR has dismissed the case filed by Honourable Obika against the Federal Character Commission over alleged negligence of duty to ensure recruitment of 1% of the Indigenes of FCT into the government agencies for lack of proof.
Justice Kanyip ruled that Honourable Obika’s case is devoid of live examples of victims who have suffered from the Federal Character Commission’s inability to perform its duty as enjoined by law, and that the reliefs sought, even if granted, cannot be enforced by the Court as they are difficult to police and enforce.
The Court reasoned that no where in the Federal Character Commission Act is it stated that the Federal Character Commission is at fault for the breach of the Act by any government establishment, and the applicant’s case is not one for statutory negligence.
From facts- the applicant- Honourable Obika had averred that Ministries and agencies of the FGN in their recruitment of staff to their Ministries and agencies have constantly failed to recruit 1% of indigenes of the FCT into its workforce, that the Federal Character Commission, created pursuant to section 153(1) of the 1999 Constitution, is mandated to conform and adhere strictly to the provisions of its enabling Act in carrying out the functions, objectives and purposes of its creation.
Honourable Obika submitted a lone issue for determination whether the respondent’s inability to enforce compliance in respect of the 1 per cent employment opportunity contained in the provisions of Part I, paragraph 6 of the Federal Character Commission Establishment Act 2004 has not denied the indigenes of the Federal Capital Territory their employment opportunities in Federal Establishments.
Honourable Obika argued that the Federal Character Commission has a bounden responsibility to not only ensure that the 1 per cent employment opportunity availed to indigenes of the FCT in the Act is implemented by Government Ministries and parastatal but to prosecute the Head of any Government Ministry or parastatal that fails to implement the provisions of the law sited above.
In response, the respondent- the Federal Character Commission submitted that the Honourable Obika matter is not competent before the Court and that the National Industrial Court is established to settle labour disputes and not to force an organisation to give employment.
The Federal Character Commission argued that the Federal Capital Territory belongs to the Federal Republic of Nigeria and that the Constitution did not say or regard any person who resides within the Federal Capital Territory as an indigene of the Federal Capital Territory Abuja.
The Federal Character Commission then urged the Court to find and hold that the applicant has not presented any credible evidence that the Court can rely on; and so the Court should dismiss the matter with a cost of N100,000,000.00, as the case is memorable for its polemic rather than its substance.
In a well-considered judgment, the Hon. President of the Industrial Court, Justice Benedict Kanyip affirmed the jurisdiction and ruled that the argument of the Federal Character Commission, that labour dispute can only arise between an employer and employees, and that there can never be a dispute between an employer and the person that has no employment with him, is very much misplaced.
However, Justice Kanyip stated that the reliefs sought by Honourable Obika, even if granted, cannot be enforced by the Court as they are difficult to police and enforce.
The Court ruled that the questions posed and the reliefs sought relate to ALL Federal establishments, and the questions cannot be answered in favour of the applicant, nor the reliefs prayed for granted as prayed, reasoned that if these establishments cannot be so controlled or directed, then even the monitoring duty of the respondent makes no meaning.
Justice Kanyip stated that identifying who the FCT indigenes are is not even sufficient, as they must be indigenes who have shown interest to be employed, qualified for the offices they applied for, but were not taken, and so are victims. All this, the applicant did none.
Justice Kanyip further held that Honourable Obika did not tell the Court who the actual indigenes of the FCT are; and so would be the beneficiaries of the suit, that the evidence before the Court are those already employed, not those who lost their employment.
“Two classes of Nigerians qualify as indigenes of the FCT: Nigerian citizens who are not citizens by naturalisation who cannot lay claim to any State of the Federation; and persons born in the FCT and whose descendants lived in the area presently constituting the FCT before 26 February 1976 and have continued to reside in the FCT after that date.” Justice Kanyip ruled