The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has insisted that Nigerian workers, including civil servants, have an unfettered constitutional right to participate in partisan politics, rejecting a claim by the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs Didi Esther Walson-Jack, that they are banned from doing so.
In a statement released on Monday, signed by NLC President, Comrade Joe Ajaero, the congress said it was “alarmed” by the reemergence of the issue after it was addressed in the run-up to the 2023 general election.
NLC recalled that in 2022, a circular issued from the Office of the Head of Service, referenced HCSF/479/11/19 and titled “Clarification on the Provision of Public Service Rules (PSR) vis-à-vis the Supreme Court Judgement as it Relates to Participation of Civil Servants in Partisan Politics”, sought to bar civil servants from partisan politics.
The labour body said it had written to both the Head of Service of the Federation and the Attorney General of the Federation at the time, stressing that such an opinion contradicted the provisions of the 1999 Constitution and the judgment of the Supreme Court.
Quoting Section 40 of the Constitution, Ajaero noted: “Every person shall be entitled to assemble freely and associate with other persons, and in particular he may form or belong to any political party, trade union or any other association for the protection of his interests…”
The NLC further cited the Supreme Court ruling in INEC and AGF vs Musa and Others (2003), in which the then Chief Justice Mohammed Lawal Uwais declared: “The provisions of Section 40 of the 1999 Constitution are clear. Their import is to allow ‘every person’, including public office holders and civil servants, the freedom to assemble and associate with other persons, to form and belong to any political party, or trade union or any association for the protection of their interests.”
The statement explained that constitutional provisions, including Sections 66(1), 107(1)(f), 137(1)(g), 142(2), 182, 187(2), and 222, not only affirmed the right of civil servants to participate in politics but also allowed them to contest elective positions, provided they resigned at least 30 days before an election in which they stood as candidates.
“From the evidence provided by both the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the rulings of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, it is clear that the Head of Civil Service of the Federation spoke in error and out of tune with the provisions of the law and legal precedent,” Ajaero said.
He added that her statement amounted to a personal opinion “not founded on law,” while urging Nigerian workers in both the public and private sectors to actively engage in partisan politics as part of their civic responsibilities.
Faridah Abdulkadiri
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