Power of State High Courts in Nigeria to Transfer Labour Matters to the National Industrial Court: Suggesting the Way Forward

This paper examines the power of State High Courts in Nigeria to transfer labour matters instituted before them to the appropriate court with the jurisdiction to entertain those matters, that is, the National Industrial Court of Nigeria. Following the enactment of the Constitution (Third Alteration) Act, 2010 which gave exclusive jurisdiction to the National Industrial Court (NIC) on labour matters, both the State and Federal High Courts including that of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja ceased to have jurisdiction on labour matters pending before them. Therefore, there is the need for these courts to transfer the labour matters pending before them to the NIC. However, State High Courts in Nigeria do not have power expressly conferred on them under any law of the State or under their rules of practice and procedure to transfer labour matters to the NIC. The State High Courts can only strike out those matters, and if they are struck out and there is need to file them afresh, some of them may be caught by statute of limitation and the plaintiffs in such situation, without any fault of theirs, would suffer grave injustice. By way of scholarly exegesis, predicated on statutory and case law authorities, the paper explores this sphere of adjectival law in Nigerian jurisprudence and critically reviews the latest decision of the Court of Appeal in this regard. The paper posits that though the Court of Appeal rightly held that State High Courts should transfer labour matters to the NIC that decision, with greatest respect, was reached on a wrong reasoning. The paper further examines the provisions of Section 24(3) of the National Industrial Court Act, 2006 vis-a-vis the principles of separation of powers and federalism as enshrined under the 1999 CFRN, as amended and submits that the section is subversive of the cardinal principles of separation of powers and federalism entrenched under the 1999 CFRN, as amended and is therefore unconstitutional, null and void. The paper submits that though State High Courts are not expressly empowered under any statute or rules of court to transfer labour matters to the NIC, there are some provisions under the States’ High Court rules of practice and procedure, and judicial decisions verging on policy, which they can rely on to transfer labour matters to the NIC