Nigerian court dismisses bid to ban planned fuel strike

Yahoo! News.

ABUJA, 16 (AFP) - Hundreds of Nigerian labour activists broke into songs of joy Friday after a high court judge dismissed a government bid to ban a threatened general strike over a fuel tax hike.

The ruling opens the way for Nigerian unions to begin a nationwide stoppage from next Thursday in protest at President Olusegun Obasanjo's decision to reintroduce a controversial levy on petrol and diesel sales.

Labour leader Adams Oshiomhole was overjoyed by the judge's decision, and renewed his threat to bring the economy of Africa's most populous nation -- and its biggest oil exporter -- to a complete standstill.

"For me, I'm really excited because we saw a judge demonstrate so much intellect and courage," Oshiomhole, who is president of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), told reporters outside an Abuja high court.

"If a judge can demonstrate that amount of courage then we, as ordinary people, have no reason to spare any courage in fighting for the liberation of our country," he said, as supporters broke into solidarity songs.

"We will give effect to this enlightened pronouncement ... and ensure that the strike that we are going to organise is peaceful, but it will be total and effective until the federal government listens to reason.

"The struggle begins," he declared with a flourish.

Obasanjo's attorney general, Akinolu Olujinimi, told AFP that no decision had been made on whether to launch an appeal.

"I will study the ruling, which I haven't seen. I will take a position as soon as I've seen it," he said.

After the hearing around 500 NLC activists marched peacefully away from the courthouse, followed by a dozen police, but there was no sign of any trouble brewing.

Talks between union leaders and Obasanjo's government broke down late Wednesday, whereupon officials petitioned Chief Justice Lawan Gumi of Nigeria's federal capital territory to declare the strike illegal.

But Gumi dismissed the suit, declaring: "I've not been shown anywhere why the respondent's right to freely assemble and express views in matters affecting their common interests should be curtailed.

"Because of that shortcoming I've therefore declared that the application has failed and is hereby dismissed," he said.

Last week Obasanjo declared that a long-forgotten tax -- which had been reduced to a level of zero but never formally repealed -- had been brought back at a rate of one and a half naira (1.2 cents) per litre of fuel.

The levy is backdated to January 1, and Obasanjo argues that since it is not a new tax but a revival of an old one, there was no need for it to be put into the government's budget and to be endorsed by lawmakers.

Oshiomhole has vowed to bring NLC members out on "the mother of all strikes" from January 21 if Obasanjo refuses to abandon the tax, and has portrayed the struggle as a battle against a president ruling by decree.

Already on Thursday a 2,000-strong crowd of protesters gathered in Lagos to hear union leaders and rights activists denounce the government's alleged high-handedness in pushing through the unpopular measure.

But a similar dispute last year over the deregulation of the fuel sector ended in failure for the unions, despite more than a week of unrest and economic disruption in which at least 12 strikers were killed by police.

Oshiomhole's followers, despite enjoying broad public support in the cities, failed to disrupt Nigeria's sole significant export industry -- oil production -- and succeeded only in delaying Obasanjo's plans.

Fuel prices now vary widely around the country and a crippling shortage of petrol and diesel has come to an end, denting public anger over the issue and making labour's case a harder to sell to strike-weary workers.

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