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THE MEDICAL AND HEALTH WORKERS' UNION OF NIGERIA AND THE FEDERAL MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND THE MINISTRIES OF HEALTH OFTHE 19 STATES OFTHE FEDERATION (NATIONAL INDUSTRIAL COURT) H ON. JUSTICE (CHIEF) P.A. ATILADE PRESIDENT S.O. KOKU,ESQ. MEMBER ALHAJI Z.M. BELLO MEMBER SUIT NO: NIC/5/84 DATE OF JUDGMENT WEDNESDAY, 27TH FEBRUARY, 1985 LABOURLAW Trade dispute - Award of Industrial Arbitration Panel - Letter of objection thereto - Time to lodge Computation of. LABOURLAW Trade dispute - Award of Industrial Arbitration Panel - Objection thereto - Source and date thereof. Whether Minister required to disclose - Presumption of regularity in favour of. LABOURLAW Trade dispute - Parties to trade dispute - Rights n Where a Federal Ministry represents State Ministries during proceedings before Pane. Whether such representation sufficiency extinguish the rights of the State Ministries. ISSUES: 1. Whether the objection filed by the Respondent is not properly before the court being filed out of time. 2. Whether the objection filed by the Respondent is the matter before the court. FACTS: The Industrial Arbitration Panel made an award in a trade dispute between the Application and the Respondent. The Respondent objected to the Award, and the objection was referred to the National Industrial Court by the Minister of Labour. Upon receipt of a copy of the letter of objection to the Award of the Industrial Arbitration the Applicant filed an application for an order that the objection filed by the Respondent was not properly before the court having been filed out of time, and that the time for lodging an objection to the IAP award having elapsed, the award was final and should be deemed confirmed. The letter of the Ministry of Labour communicating the Award to the Parties had stipulated that any objection should be lodged with the Minister within 21 days from the date of the notice, after which the Minister would treat the Award as binding on the parties to the dispute. The facts showed that the objection by the Federal Ministry of Health was made after 21 days, but the other parties to the dispute also made distinct objection to the Award. HELD: (Dismissing the Applicant s application): 1. On Time within which objection to award of Industrial Arbitration Panel ought to be lodged with the Minister - By the provisions of section 9(3) of the Trade Disputes Act, 1976, the time allowed for objection to Industrial Arbitration Panel's Award is 21 days thus, a letter of objection to an award notified to the parties by a letter dated 25th May, 1985 ought to be lodged with the minister on or before the 15th of June, 1984 in accordance with Section 8 of the Interpretation Act. In the instant case, the Federal Ministry of Health’s letter of objection dated 3rd July, 1984 to the Industrial Arbitration Panel's Award was issued after the expiry of the 21 days allowed by the Trade Disputes Act, 2. On Whether representation by Federal Ministry of Health on behalf of States' Ministries of Health during proceedings of the Industrial Arbitration Panel is sufficient to extinguish the rights of the State Ministries in a dispute - The fact that in the case, the Federal Ministry of Health indicated during the proceedings before the Industrial Arbitration Panel, that it represented the 19 States Ministries of Health, is not sufficient to extinguish the rights of those other parties to the dispute, who also received notices of the Award, to send their objections to the Minister, if they so desired. 3. On Whether Minister required to disclose source and date of objection to an award The Trade Disputes Act, 1976 does not contain any provision requiring the Minister to disclose the source and date of any written objection to an arbitration award this case, therefore, the presumption of regularity must operate in favour of the Minister with respect to objections from the 19 States of the Federation. H ON. JUSTICE (CHIEF) P.A. ATILADE PRESIDENT, S.O. KOKU,ESQ. MEMBER, ALHAJI Z.M. BELLO MEMBER