LABOUR LAW
R EV IEW
NIGERIAN JOURNAL OF LABOUR LAW & INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS 
Vol. 3 No. 4  ISSN: 1597-9865 December, 2009
Status of the Contract of Employment of a Public Servant: Lessons 
from Idoniboye- Obu V. NNPC.
- Gogo G. Otuturu
The Legal Status of Trade Unions in Nigeria: Emerging Issues. 
- Osuntogun Abiodun Jacob
The Disputes of Rights versus the Disputes of Interests' Dichotomy 
in Labour Law: A Note on Nigerian Labour Law.
- O. V. C. Okene
Quality of Work Life, Working Conditions and Public Servants 
Performance in Nigeria.
- S. S. Adamade
Protecting the Rights of Migrant Workers- Lessons from 
South African Xenophobia Violence in 2008.
- F. A. R. Adeleke
Implementation of International Labour Standards. 
- Okonkwo, Peter Obi
BIMBO ATILOLA
Editor In Chief
Published By Hybrid Consult
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CONTENTS
STATUS OF THE CONTRACT OF 
EMPLOYMENT OF A PUBLIC SERVANT: 
LESSONS FROM IDONIBOYE- OBU V. NNPC. 1-14
- Gogo G Otuturu
THE LEGAL STATUS OF TRADE UNIONS 
IN NIGERIA: EMERGING ISSUES. 15-31
- Osuntogun Abiodun Jacob
THE DISPUTES OF RIGHTS VERSUS 
THE DISPUTES OF INTERESTS’ DICHOTOMY 
IN LABOUR LAW: A NOTE ON NIGERIAN 
LABOUR LAW. 32-42
- 0. V. C. Okene
QUALITY OF WORK LIFE, WORKING 
CONDITIONS AND PUBLIC SERVANTS’ 
PERFORMANCE IN NIGERIA. 43-59
- S. S. Adamade
PROTECTING THE RIGHTS OF MIGRANT 
WORKERS- LESSONS FROM SOUTH 
AFRICAN XENOPHOBIA VIOLENCE IN 2008. 60-80
- F. A. R. Adeleke
IMPLEMENTATION OF INTERNATIONAL 
LABOUR STANDARDS. 81-95
- Okonkwo Peter Obi
The views expressed in this Journal are those of the contributors and not 
necessarily those o f the Editors, Editorial Board or the Publishers.
UNIV
RSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
15
THE LEGAL STATUS OF TRADE UNIONS 
IN NIGERIA: EMERGING ISSUES*
1.0. INTRODUCTION
Trade Unions “are preeminently national institutions ”. They engage in 
the task o f defending and improving the conditions o f life and work of 
their members within the confines o f national systems o f industrial 
relations.*1 
It is difficult if not impossible to see a country without a trade union. 
Where workers work, there is an intense desire to congregate. The 
truth however is that the evolution of trade union differs from one country 
to another. For example, in England, the industrial revolution which 
took place at the end the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries 
combined with the relentless effort o f many trade associations to form 
trade union despite statutory provision to the contrary2 led to the eventual 
recognition of trade union.3 But in Nigeria, the Nigerian workers were 
saved o f the agony and bitterness connected with historical struggles 
for legal recognition o f Trade Unions.4 That was not to say that the 
British colonial authorities greeted the emergence o f trade union in 
Nigeria with euphoria.5 There was a plethoral o f  evidence that the*
OSUNTOGUN ABIODUN JACOB LL.B (University o f Lagos) B.L, LL.M (O.A.U IFE) M .Ain Peace and Conflict
Studies (University of Ibadan) LL.M University o f Pretoria (South Africa) Certificate in International Legal Studies
(American University Washington D.C. Lecturer, Faculty o f Law, University o f Ibadan. Email, osunfolak@yahoo.com.
1. See J.P Windmuller The International Trade Union Movement in R. Blanpain Comparative Labour Law and Industrial 
Relations in Industrialized Market Economics Volume 2 fourth and revised edition Kluwer Law and Taxation Publisher- 
Baston “yet for well over a century trade unions have also had international interests and commitment many of which 
they have expressed through international labour organizations.”
2. As a result of the industrial revolution, and the growth of trade unionism. The parliament passed unlawful Oaths Act, 
in 1797, and the combinations Act of 1799 and 1800. The effect of those acts was to make workers organization in all 
trades of occupations a criminal offence. “A penalty of three months” imprisonment was specified for those that for­
med an association of workers that had the purpose of: raising pay, reducing hours or interfering in any other way 
with the Employers business or the employment of workers' see Charles Barrow Industrial Relations Law. 1997 
Cavendish Publishing Limited London p 1-15 for history of trade union in Britain.
3. Conspiracy and protection of property Act 1875 repealed some of the draconian laws against Trade Union.
4. Emiola Nigerian Labour Law. Emiola (Publisher Ltd) 2000 pg 312.
5. Some writers have maintained a position that Trade Union in Nigeria was not a product of natural development but a 
creation of British Colonial Authority see E.M. Hyde and H. Davidson, The Organization of Employers and Trade 
Unions Collective Beginning, in J.E. Gonders (ed). Personnel Management in Developing countries, institute of 
Personnel Management London, 1964.pl 2.
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16 THE LEGAL STATUS OF TRADE UNIONS IN NIGERIA: EMERGING ISSUES
Colonial masters opposed the activities o f Workers’ Association 
vehemently, for example in 1879, artisan workmen in the public works 
department embarked on a three day strike between 9 and 12 August 
1897, against the arbitrary change in working hours by the Colonial 
Authorities. The Colonial Governor McCallum even before the 
commencement of the strike action wrote a letter inundated with his 
anti union policy berating the strike action of the workers as that of a 
riotous mob.6 Similarly the same Colonial Governor demonstrated his 
attitude of non compromise to opposing view and anti union policy in 
another protest involving the police. The point we are making is that 
the struggle for formation of trade union in Nigeria was not as fierce as 
that of Britain but nonetheless it was not without opposition.
Though trade organization of craftsmen such as Iron mongers, bronze - 
workers, blacksmiths, leather-workers and wood carvers etc have existed 
among a number of ethnic groups in Nigeria even before the advent of
the British.7
However, the trade unionism in the modem sense as we have it today 
started in Nigeria in 1912 with the formation of the Nigerian Civil Service 
Union and between 1912 and 1937, the history of the Nigerian Trade 
Union movement was predominantly that of the three unions which are 
the Nigerian Civil Service Union (formerly Southern Nigeria Civil 
Service Union, the Railway workers’ Union and the Nigerian Union of 
Teachers8.
The year 1938 witnessed a phenomenon of growth in trade Unionism 
because of the enactment of the Nigerian Trade Union Ordinance which 
culminated in to the establishment of many Trade Unions in Nigeria. 
The ordinance9 was later known as the Trade Union Act Cap 200 and 
guaranteed unfettered freedom of association and trade union rights.
6. A.G Hoplains, “The Lagos strike of 1897: An Exploration in Nigerian Labour History: past and present, 35, December 
1966 pp. 133-135.
7. Oladosu Ogunniyi, Nigeria Employment Law in perspective (1991) Nigeria Folio Publishers Ltd pg 224.
8. Ibid pg. 224.
9. 179 Ibid.
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LABOUR LAW REVIEW 17
One thing we observe from the history of trade unionism in Nigeria is 
the late development of the unionism in the country. Reason for this is 
not far fetched. In the early days, employment relationships were strictly 
family affairs. Official paid employment or civil service job was foreign 
to us and virtually non existent. In fact the advent of the European traders 
and missionaries, led to the growth of the concept of wage earning 
employment in most African countries and the fact that some people 
offered to work with them did not break their permanent interest in the 
family farm. As Roper succinctly explained:
“Generally, the fam ily farm  is worked by the 
farm er and his wife or wives and fa m ily10.
Communal duties and rights are woven in to the 
agricultural system; and ancient system o f  
obligatory communal labour still survives in many 
parts fo r  subsidiary farming activities such as 
bush clearing, making forest paths or village 
roads. Chiefs still retain some customary powers 
under native law to regulate aspect o f life and 
labour11 ”
This paper seeks to consider the Legal Status of a trade union. The 
legal status of a trade union is of some importance since it is that status 
that determines the fundamental issue ofj uristic personality of the trade 
union and its related and relevant issues. This paper is divided in to six 
parts. The first part which is an introduction discusses the history of 
trade union in Nigeria. The second part explains the meaning of trade 
union while the third part deals with its legal status. Part four considers 
the statutory rules for registration of trade union while part five examines 
critically the negative attribute of making a trade union a legal entity 
and conclusion is in part six.
2.0 MEANING OF TRADE UNION:
Every association or union can’t be a trade union. For an 
Association to be a trade union, it must fulfill the requirements of the 
law.
Two requirements are prescribed by law, the first relates to the 
membership of the union and the second relates to the purpose of the
10. S.O. Akindipe Trade Union rules and the demand o f natural justice 1FJR Vol. 2004 pg 203.11.
J.I. Roper, Labour problems in West Africa 1958. Penguin, London, at p.2.
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18 THE LEGAL STATUS OF TRADE UNIONS IN NIGERIA: EMERGING ISSUES
union. Consequentially a trade union is defined as any combmation of 
workers or employers, whether temporary or permanent, the purpose of 
which is to regulate the terms and condition of employment of workers12.
As to the requirements of membership, it must be a combination of 
workers or employees. The term “workers” is wider in import than that 
o f employee. It includes the self employed if  they offer personal 
services13.
In Broadbent V. Crisp14 where the applicant was a pools collector, the 
court held that he was a worker, on the ground that he was under the 
control of the defendant and under a personal obligation to perform his 
contract. A worker is interpreted15 to mean any employee, that is to say 
any member of the public service of the federation or a state or any 
individual (oilier than a member of any such public service) who has 
entered into or works under a contract with an employer, whether the 
contract is for manual labour, clerical work or otherwise, expressed or 
implied, oral or in writing, and whether it is a contract personally to 
execute any work or labour or a contract of apprenticeship. Lord Wright 
explains that the interpretation of a worker particularly16 with the phrase 
“or otherwise” means that the “entire range of wage earning or salaried 
employment” will be covered. Also, the fact that another phrase opens 
the ambit to any form of contract “whether it be a contract personally to 
execute any work or labour” means that the independent contractors 
may be covered by the statutory provision17.
In all, it is obvious from that definition that the relationship between 
employee and employer arises from the contract18 except the employees 
of the Governments whether from the federal public service or state 
Civil Service whose relationship has statutory flavour.
12. S. 1 (1) of Trade Union Act Cap T14, LFN 2004.
13. Allison Bone & Mamah Suff Essential Employment Law Second Edition Cavendish Publishing Ltd London
1999 pg 166.
14. (1974) LC.r. 248 (N.I.R.C).
15. S. 54 Trade Union Act Cap T14 LFN 2004.
16. National Association of Local Government Officers v. Bolton Corporation (1943) AC 166.
17. E.E. Uvieghara, Labour Law in Nigeria Malt House Press Ltd 2001 First Edition 316
18. Adeniyi, Olatunbosun, Prohibition of Classified Public Workers from Trade Union activities and Freedom of Association 
from the legal Tempo Aspects of law: Essay in honour of Chief Obiyera Odunlade edited by Okpigue Othuke Esq and 
2 others. Zenith Publishers 2001 Nigeria.
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LABOUR LAW ktvlLVV 19
The second requirement is that of proper purpose. A trade Union should 
be formed to regulate the terms and conditions of employment of 
workers. Oguntade, J.C.Ain Udoh & 2 Ors. V Orthopedic Hospitals 
Management Board & Anor19 explains this very well when he 
observed:
“Primarily, the reason fo r  the existence o f a trade 
union is to regulate the terms and conditions oj 
employment o f workers. This is another way o f saying 
that trade unions are to ensure that the terms and 
conditions given to workers by employers are 
suitable ”.
That does not mean that a trade union can not have any other purpose 
and the fact that a trade union has other purposes different from the 
purpose of regulating the terms and conditions of employment shall not 
be a factor to refuse its registration.20 However the Registrar shall cancel 
the registration of a trade union if it is proved that the primary purpose 
which the union is pursuing is different from that of regulating the terms 
and conditions of employment of workers.21
Similarly, alteration of rules of trade unions shall not be allowed by the 
Registrar if by its effect, the principal purpose of the said trade union 
would cease to be that of regulating the terms and conditions of 
employment of workers.22 In Re Union of Ifelodun Timber Dealers 
and Allied Workers23 Court justified the refusal by the Registrar to 
register a combination of persons calling themselves “Union of Ifelodun 
timber Dealers and Allied Of-workmen” on that ground (absence of the 
primary purpose). De Lestang C.J. observed:
.. there is nothing in these objects which to use the words 
o f the definition, regulates the relation between workmen 
and masters or between workmen and workmen or 
between masters and masters. It seems to me that the 
main purpose o f the association in so fa r as they may be
19. (1990) 4 N.W. L.R. (part 142) 52.
20 See section 1(2) o f Trade Union Act T14 LFN 2004.
21 Ibid S 7 (1) (d).
22 Ibid S. 29 (2) (b).
23 (1974)1 CR 230.
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2U THE LEGAL STATUS OF TRADE UNIONS IN NIGERIA: EMERGING ISSUES
extracted from the published objects are the protection 
and expansion o f the timber trade and the welfare o f all 
persons, whether they be workmen or employers engaged 
in that trade. The association does not, therefore come 
within the definition o f a trade union
The definition of a trade union further specifies that the combination 
should not be regarded as an unlawful combination merely because its 
activities may constitute a restraint of trade. Again, a union will not 
cease to be a union because its purpose include or excludes the provision 
of benefits for it members24
3.0 LEGAL STATUS OF A TRADE UNION
When a company is registered in Nigeria by Corporate Affairs 
Commission, such a company becomes a body corporate different from 
the promoters who formed the company25. Consequentially, the 
registered company as a corporate personality becomes capable of 
exercising the function and powers of a corporate personality which are 
the power to sue and be sued in its registered name, the power to hold 
separate property, the power to enter into its own contract etc.
The question we intend to consider here is to find out whether a registered 
trade union is a corporate entity or personality capable of enjoying it’s 
attributes thereof. The starting point of resolving that issue in Nigeria 
threw everybody into the region of uncertainty and confusion when 
Betuel J. Pungently exclaim ed in N igerian Stevedores and 
Dockworkers & Union V Opara26 “that the unior is either a quasi 
juristic person by virtue of the operation of the provision of our Trade 
Union Act or it is not”. Unfortunately, there is no provision in the Trade 
Union Act that invest a registered trade union in Nigeria with the status 
of a corporate personality. It was therefore no big deal (though the. 
consequence may be calamitous) for the court in Nigerian Civil Service 
Union (WS) V Alien27 to hold that a registered trade union is not a legal 
entity.
24 Prof. Uvieghara condemns the inclusion in the definition of Trade Union o f the provision relating to benefit as 
superfluous. See Trade Union Law in Nigeria. 1976 Ethiope Publishing Corporation Benin City page 90.
25. See S 37 of the Nigerian Companies and Allied Matters Act 2004 Laws of the Federation o f Nigeria.
26. Unreported Suit No p (ll) 1963). High Court, Porl-Harcourt. Nigeria. 339.
27. (1972) 2 UILR 316.
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LABOUR LAW REVIEW 21
However the confusion and uncertainty created by the position of the 
court in that case was cleared when Obaseki J.S.C said obiter in Nigeria 
Nurses’ Association V Attorney General of the Federation28 that a 
trade union has a legal personality. A learned professor lends credence 
to that view but posited that “if a registered trade union is a legal entity, 
it can only be by inference from the meaning and effect of the provisions 
of the Act29. It can be easily argued that such an intention existed on the 
path of those who drafted the Act. The Act imposes a duty on a registered 
grade union to have a registered office30, render annual returns31 and to 
submit an audited account of its fund to the registrar32 and for failure to 
comply, the said trade union as a distinct body and its officers shall be 
guilty of an offence against the Act33.
On the issue of property, the Nigerian Act is silent on who should hold 
the property of the Union but Section 28(4)34 provides the clue when it 
states that “the property o f each o f the merged unions” according to the 
terms of the merger “be forwarded to the registrar and should be “vested 
in the merged unions ”35.
The implication of that is that a registered trade union is capable of 
holding its property real or personal in its name.
On the issue of juristic personality, a registered trade union can sue and 
be sued in its name. In Taff Vale Rly V Amalgamated Society of 
Railway Servants36 the House of Lords argued that the power to sue
28. (1981) 11-12SC, 1, 11 and 12, other members of the judges who gave judgment in the case did not address this 
issue but non the less it was correct.
29. E.E. Uvieghara p. 340.
30. Section 395) Trade Unions Act Cap T14 Laws of the Federation.
31. Ibid S 37.
32. Ibid S 37.
33. See S 37.
34. See S 37 see also S3 8.
35. Ibid.
36. (1901) AC 426 Farewell J in the High Court observed that “the Trade Unions Act rendered the purposes of trade 
unions legal and enabled these purposes to be carried out by virtue of the specific powers provided in the Acts. 
Furthermore, the Acts interalia established a system of union registration, legalized trade union contracts, authorized 
the ownership of property through trustees and imposed duties of account on officers. Consequently, the existence of 
these specific provisions meant that the parliament must have intend to treat a registered trade union as if it was a 
legal entity.” The Court of Appeal reversed farewell’s judgment but the majority of the House of Lord strongly 
approved his opinion that registered trade unions possessed similar powers and liabilities as a corporate body. The 
decision has been followed in a great number of subsequent cases.
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2 2 THE LEGAL STATUS OF TRADE UNIONS IN NIGERIA: EMERGING ISSUES
and be sued is a natural consequence that flow from the statutory 
provision creating a trade union. Lord Halsbury declared:
“i f  the Legislature has created a thing 
w hich can own property, which can  
employ servants, and which can inflict 
injury, it must be taken to have impliedly 
given the power to make it suable in a 
court o f  law fo r  injuries purposely done 
by its authority and procurem ent”37
In Nigeria, it is contended that the combined effect of section 38 (5)38 
section 42(1)39 of the Act is to make a registered trade union a juridicial 
person.
On the other hand, if the certificate of registration of a trade union is 
cancelled,40 or the trade union is dissolved, the certificate of registration 
shall be cancelled, and the legal personality of the said Trade Union 
comes to extinction or ceases to exist. The said Trade Union can no 
longer enjoy the attributes of a legal personality.
In Nigeria Nurses Association and S.S. Okezie V. Attorney-General 
of the Federation & 2 others.41 The plaintiffs who were a registered 
Trade Union filed two actions in the High Court, Kaduna, on 30th 
N ovem ber 1977 and 6th January 1978. The two actions were 
consolidated, and judgement was given in favour of the plaintiffs on 
12th October 1978, though on the 15th of August 1978, the Federal 
Military Government in Nigeria promulgated a decree42 which determine 
the existence of the plaintiffs as a trade union because their certificate
37. Ibid at 43 6.
38. See E.E. Uvieghara pg 342 S 38(5) provided that the union or any person capable o f  suing as a  representative 
may sue and S 42 (1) provides that in certain circumstances the registrar may, i f  it is  expedient to do so by reason o f 
the refusal or neglect o f  the union or the members to take legal proceedings to  take action on behalf o f  the union and 
in the union 's name.
39. N 7.
40. Ibid S 14 deals with cancellation o f  registration o f  a trade union.
41. (1981) 11-12S.C. I.
42. Trade Unions (Amendment) Decree 1978. The M ilitary Government used this Decree to  restructure trade union 
set up in the country and brought them under one labour organization. In the process, the certificate o f  registration o f  
the “N igerian Nurses Association” was cancelled. The union and its officers instituted the suits. The judgm ent o f  
Kaduna high court was given without any reference to  the decree which determined its existence.
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
LABOUR LAW REVIEW 23
of registration as a trade union was cancelled and the cancellation was 
made to have retrospective effect from 3rd August 1977, that is to say, to 
cover the dates 30th November 1977 and 6th January 1978 when the 
plaintiff instituted the two actions. On, appeal, the Court of Appeal held 
that the plaintiffs had ceased to exist as a trade Union by virtue of the 
provisions of the Amending Decree of 197843 which had the effect of 
canceling their certificate of registration. The Supreme Court upheld 
the judgment of the Court of Appeal. Obasekj JSC discussed the issue 
of legal status of a trade union when he said:
“A registered trade union is a legal 
person and the birth and death o f legal 
persons are determined not by nature but 
by the law. They came into existence at 
the will o ft he law, and they endure during 
its pleasure. Their extinction is called 
dissolution ”44.
Aniagolu J.S.C who delivered the lead judgment of the Court spoke in 
the same vein when he said:
“On 3rd August 1977” “the Nigerian 
Nurses Association ” which had before 
then been a registered Trade union, was, 
by operation o f  the 1978 Amending 
decree, obliterated out o f existence. As 
at 30th November 1977 and 6th January 
1978 it was no more, in the contemplation 
o f law, alive, to have taken out the writs 
it took out on those dates ”45.
This case has shown that the perpetual succession which is an attribute 
of legal personality comes into extinction when the certificate of 
registration of trade union is cancelled.
43. The Trade Union (Amendment) Decree 1978.
44. Ibid pg 12.
.45. Ibid pg 23.
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24 THE LEGAL STATUS OF TRADE UNIONS IN NIGERIA: EMERGING ISSUES
4.0 STATUTORY PROVISION FOR REGISTRATION 
OF A TRADE UNION
Before a trade union is registered, it can collect subscriptions or dues 
and take further steps that will help her to fulfill the requirements for 
registration. But the pre-registration priviledge or right does not include 
the right to take any step to achieve the purpose for which the union is 
to be formed.46
An application for registration must be made to the Registrar in the 
prescribed from and must be signed in the case of a trade union of 
workers, by at least fifty members of the proposed union and in the ease 
of a trade union of employers, by at least two members of the union.47 
The application must state the name under which it is proposed that the 
said trade union shall be registered and the address of the office which, 
if  the union is registered, is to be the registered office.48 Each application 
shall be accompanied by two copies of the rules of the union and should 
state (a) the name, address, age and occupation of each of the persons, 
by whom the application is signed, and (b) the official title, name, 
address, age and occupation of each official of the union.49
The Registered rules must contain provisions with respect to the various 
matters mentioned in the first schedule of the Act50 and the Registrar 
must register the trade union and its rules at the same time if the proposed 
trade union meets all the requirement for registration. But if it appears 
to the Registrar that the application is defective in one form or another, 
the Registrar shall notify the applicant accordingly and must take no 
further action in relation with the application until the defect cured to
46. S 2(1) Trade Unions Act Cap T14 Laws o f the Federation.
47. Ibid S 3(1).
48. Ibid S 3 (5).
49. Ibid S 3 (6).
50. Ibid S 3 (4) matters to be provided for in tire Registered rules mentioned in the first schedule o f the Act are (1) The 
name of the Trade Union (2) The whole of the purposes of the Trade Union and the purposes for which its funds may be 
applied (3) subscription and due to be paid by members. (4) Conditions of benefits to members if  any (5) Fine and forfeitures 
to members (6) Procedure for making and altering rules. (6) Procedure for making and altering rules (7) Provision for 
appointment and removal of elected officers (8) Qualification for membership and inclusion of right to be voted for. (9) 
Provision making all members inclusive in General Committee of management (10) A provision for keeping a nominal roll 
o f members (11) Provision for investment o f the funds o f the Trade Union or deposit in bank.
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
LABOUR LAW REVIEW 25
his (Registrar) satisfaction or a fresh application is made in its place51. 
If on the other hand, the application is without any defect, the Registrar 
shall cause a notice of the application to be published in the Federal 
Gazette, stipulating that any objections to the registration of the trade 
union in question may be submitted to him in writing during the period 
of three months beginning with the date of the Gazette in which the 
notice is published.52
The Registrar has three months after the end o f the period for objection 
to consider any objections submitted to him and if he is satisfied 
that no proper objection has been raised that non of the purposes of 
the proposed trade union is unlawful, that the requirements of the Act 
and of the Regulations53 with respect to the registration of trade union 
have been complied with shall register the union as a trade union. 
However, the Registrar has a statutory duty to refuse registration of a 
trade union if  it appears to him that any existing trade union caters for 
the same interest as the one applying for registration.54
The approval o f the Minister of labour is a condition precedent for 
registration of trade union. S3 (21)55 provides that no “combination o f  
workers or employers’’ shall be registered as a trade union “save with 
the approval o f  the minister on his being satisfied that it is essential to 
register the trade Union “either by regrouping existing trade unions, 
registering a new trade union or otherwise provided that “no trade 
union is registered to represent workers or employers in a place where 
there already exists a trade union
If the Registrar refuses to register the union, he shall without any delay 
send to the Applicant a notice in the prescribed form to that effect, stating 
the date from which the time for appealing against the refusal is to run 
and shall publish a notice to that effect in the federal Gazette.56 The 
Applicant or any official or member of the proposed trade union has
51. S 3  Ibid.
52. Ibid S 5.
53. Ibid the Trade Unions Regulations prescribes various forms including the fee and Form for the application for 
registration.
54. Ibid S 5 (4) “The Registrar shall not register the trade union if  it appears to him that any existing Trade Union is 
sufficiently representative of the interests of the class of persons whose interest the union is intended to represent” .
55. Ibid.
56. Ibid.
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26 THE LEGAL STATUS OF TRADE UNIONS IN NIGERIA: EMERGING ISSUES
within the period o f thirty days, beginning with the date so specified to 
appeal to the Minister against the refusal and the M inister’s -decision is 
final.57 Once the registrar has registered a trade union, he must issue to 
the Union a certificate o f registration which is conclusive evidence that 
the requirements o f the Act and the regulation for the registration o f 
trade unions have been complied with.58 However, in any proceedings 
for the cancellation59 o f the registration o f the union on the ground that 
its registration was obtained by fraud or as a result o f mistake, the 
applicant is barred from proving that the certificate is a conclusive 
evidence o f compliance with the requirements o f the Act.60
The consequence o f  registration is that the registered trade union 
possesses the powers and duties of a trade union under the Act61 and the 
power is lost when the said trade Union ceases to be so registered.62
5.0 Corporate Entity with its Negative Attribute of Liability
We have taken time to explain the controversy surrounding the status of 
trade union as a corporate entity. Doubt does not exist any more on the 
status of trade union as a legal entity. But the catalyst which occasioned 
corporate entity status in industrial relations was the imposition of 
statutory obligations on the trade union being a statutory creature.
57. Ibid S5 (5) Before this provision the state high court was vested with the power to hear appeal against refusal by the 
aggrieved applicant. But sections 5 (5) and 8 Ibid transferred the power of the high court to the Minister of labour. Prof. 
EE Uvieghara at pg 327 noted that “ ... it would have been difficult in practice to fit the minister into the legal system. 
Furthermore, natural justice at common law and fair trial under the constitution may well have been trampled upon 
since it is the minister who would have refused the registration in the first place”. Supreme Court held in Adediran v 
Interland Transport Ltd (1991) 9 NWLR 155 that section 6 (b) of the constitution gives power to the courts to determine 
issue of civil right and obligation and that the said power could not be altered by any other law.
58. Ibid S 5
59. S 7 Ibid deals with cancellation of registration. It provides that “Subject to the provisions of the section of section 10 
(2) of this Act, the Registrar shall cancel the registration of a trade union if it is proved to his satisfaction - (a) that the 
registration of the Union was obtained by fraud or as the result of a mistake; or (b) that any of the result of any of the 
purposes of the union is unlawful; or (c) that after receipt of a warning in writing from the Registrar, the union has 
deliberately contravened or continued to contravene any provision of the Act or the Regulation; or (d) the principal 
purpose for which the union is in practice being carried on is a purpose other than that of regulations the terms and 
condition of employment of workers; or (e) the union though in existence, has ceased to function or (f) the Union has 
ceased to exert.
60. Ibid the provision is essential so as to correct the mistakes that the registrar may have made while registering the trade 
union. If it is discovered that the union could not have been registered if certain facts later discovered against its 
registration had been within the knowledge of the registrar.
61. By virtue of S 5 (7) Ibid, the registered trade union has statutory. Power to perform the functions of a Trade Union in 
the Act. The same provision invests a registered trade union with the attribute of a corporate personality though it is not 
expressly stated in the Act.
62. Ibid S 2 (2) but note that such a trade union has power to take any necessary step to dissolve the union.
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LABOUR LAW REVIEW 27
Consequentially, every trade union registered in Nigeria must have a 
registered office63 where it can issue out notices and accept 
correspondence for the purpose of communication. When such a trade 
union is registered, the Registrar must record the registered address as 
the registered office of the Union64.
It is the duty of the officers of the said registered trade union to intimate 
the Registrar of any change of the registered office, within 30 days of 
the change.65 If any trade union in disobedience carries on business as 
a trade union for more than 30 days without having a registered office, 
such a trade union is liable to a fine of N10 for everyday during which 
it has no registered office66. It is compulsory for every registered trade 
union to prepare and deliver to the Registrar of Trade Unions Annual 
Return67 on or before 1st June of every year in prescribed form. The 
Annual Return must be certified as correct by the auditor appointed by 
the trade union68
To ensure accountability and prudency in the management of Union’s 
funds, there is statutory imposition that annual returns must be 
accompanied with some other documents69 which will help the registrar 
to detect or determine the accuracy of the returns.
Furthermore, any member of trade union can request for a copy of annual 
return sent to the registrar,70 the reason behind this right is to detect the
63. S. 21(1).
64. S 21 (2).
66. S. 21 (4).
67. S.37 (1) Annual Return must Include: (a) Full particulars of the assets and liabilities of the union at the date to
which the return is made out. (b) Full particulars of the receipts and expenditure during the year ending on that 
date, (c) The prescribed particulars of the membership of the union at the date, and of any changes which 
occurred there in during the year ending with that date, (d) Evidence that the amount due to the Nigeria labour 
congress from the check-olf contribution of the members has seen paid to it note that check-off system has been 
abolished, contributions are now voluntary. Such other particulars as may be prescribed and must show separately 
the amount expended by the Union during the year on each of its various purpose.
68 Ibid.
69. Ibid which are: (a) A copy of the rules of the Union as in forces on the date to which the return is made out. 
(b)A copy of alterations of the rules of the Union and all new rules adopted during the years ending w ith that 
date, showing in respect of each alteration or new rules the date on which it was adopted whether or not it has 
been registered and, if so the date on which it came or will come into force. A complete list of the officials of the 
union at the date to which the return is made out and a list of all changes in the officials which occurred during 
the year ending on that date, showing the date of each such change.
70. Ibid. S.37.
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28 THE LEGAL STATUS OF TRADE UNIONS IN NIGERIA: EMERGING ISSUES
discrepancy if any between the annual account that is sent and the one 
which ought to be sent. A trade union which fails to comply with any of 
the requirements on Annual returns is guilty of an offence and shall be 
liable to a fine of N5071. In addition, the registrar has a power to cancel 
the registration o f a trade union, if after a warning the said trade union 
remains recalcitrant as far as the contravention is concerned.
The treasurer o f a trade union has a duty to render an account of the 
union’s fund72 and a copy of such an account after being audited must 
be sent to the registrar within a month of its submission to the members73. 
In addition, every member of the trade union including her executives 
must abide by the rules74 of the trade union which govern and administer 
the management of the union as a contract not only between the union 
and its members but between members and members interse. Lord 
Atkinson explained the contractual relationship between members of 
trade union and the rules of the union and the reason why members 
should be bound by it when he said “o f course when a workman becomes 
a member o f a trade union, he contracts to be bound by the rules o f  that 
union, and the contracts which he enters into with the union or with 
each o f his fellow workmen are to be found, i f  found at all, in those 
rules. ”756 7
It is therefore clear that the creation o f corporate personality and its 
extension to trade union is not only to invest it with power to enjoy 
rights but also to incur liabilities both civil and criminal.
71. Ibid. S 37(1).
72. The duty may be imposed by the rules o f the union and the committee o f management has an inherit power also 
to direct the treasurer to do so. When that is done by any o f those means the treasurers must prepare a full and 
accurate account showing, (a).All sums received or paid by him since the date to which the last account 
submitted by him was made out: (b) The balance remaining in his hand at that date and must cause the 
account, when prepared to be audited by the duly appointed Auditor.
73. S. 38-39. Note that every officer that has some thing to do with the fund of the trade union must give account 
too. Consequentially E.E. Uviegbara commented that the duty o f the treasurer to render accounts apply so far 
as they are capable o f applying to every other official of a trade union and accordingly, reference to the treasurer 
must be so construed. See E.E. Uvieghara Labour Law in Nigeria Nlalthouse law Books 2001 Lagos Nigeria 
33.
74. Ibid.
75. Amalgamated Society o f Carpenters, Cabinet Makers and Joiners V Braithwaite [1922] 2 AC 440. 655.
76. Trade Union Act 1871 made trade union a lawful organization. But the Act did not directly deal with the status 
of trade union as a legal personality. However those unions that were registered under the 1871 Act and the 
subsequent 1876 Act were conferred with a degree of corporate personality equivalent o f “quasi corporate 
status” by the courts in United Kingdom.
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LABOUR LAW REVIEW 29
However that was not the position o f Law in the past before Trade Union 
Act 187176 came in to existence. Before that time, trade unions were 
unincorporated associations, regarded as illegal with no corporate 
personality and appurtenant rights.
The task confronting the law makers then was how to recognize trade 
union as a legal institution and invest n \s ith rights but not with liabilities. 
Consequentially, several proposals that were made in the past to the 
Royal Commission on Labour before 1871 Act for the incorporation of 
trade unions were re jected  because o f  the percep tion  tha t the 
incorporation of trade unions would make it to be susceptible to liability. 
It was perceived that if  trade unions are liable to be sued, the central 
funds o f the union could be affected and it would be unfair that their 
large central funds should be amendable to legal process due to the acts 
o f hundreds of branch officials all over the country77.
As a result, the legislature endeavoured to cover trade union with 
im m unity  despite  the im position  o f  sta tu to ry  req u irem en t o f  
incorporation78. An attempt to protect trade unions from the wrath of 
law could not endure forever since there is no benefit without its alloy 
o f responsibility. If trade unions enjoy the attributes o f corporate 
personality, it is equitable and fair that they should also bear the burdens 
o f incorporation by complying with all the rules of incorporation and 
face sanctions if  they do otherwise.
That was the message that the Supreme Court o f Nigeria was passing 
across in the case o f Marina Nominees Ltd. V. F.B. I.R79 where 
Aniagolu J.S.C. said:
77. Citrin N. A“Trade Union Law”. 2,,dEdition. Stevens & Sons. 1960. See also Prof. E.E. Uvieghara and Dr. J.E.O. Abugu. 
Trade Union Law in commercial Law in Nigeria by E.O Akanki (ed) University of Lagos Press 799.
78. The 1871 Act in Britain for the first time made a trade union a legal entity and provided for registration of a trade 
Union but it also gave immunity to trade Unions for tortuous liability and remove liability for trade Unions for 
criminal conspiracy. The Nigerian Law could not but follow the same example. Section 24 o f the trade Union Act 
Laws of the federation of Nigerian Cap T 24 2004 gives protection to trade Unions for tortious acts in respect of 
trade disputes. “ An action against a trade Union (whether of workess or employers ) in respect of any tortuous act 
alleged to have been committed by or on behalf of the trade Union in contemplation or in furtherance of a trade 
dispute shall not be entertained in by any court in Nigeria”.
79. (1986) 2 NWLR (Pt 20 ) 48. Note that though the case concerned a registered company under c companies and 
Allied Makers Act the principle as it touches statutory liabilities of an incorporated company is applicable to trade 
Unions.
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30 THE LEGAL STATUS OF TRADE UNIONS IN NIGERIA: EMERGING ISSUES
“It is admitted in all side that Marina Nominees Ltd. is 
a registered company limited by shares under the 
Companies Act 1968. It follows that such a registered 
company under that Act, it is subject to all the incidents, 
under the Act, o f a company so registered. It enjoys 
all the benefits accruing theref rom as well as suffering 
or enduring all liabilities which such registration 
entails, including the liability to discharge all the duties 
imposed by the Act
Consequentially, the trade union could not but be liable in certain 
circumstances80 81.
6.0 CONCLUSION
The broad compass o f corporate personality could not be stretched too 
far. Prof. E.E. Uvieghara and Dr. J.E.O. Abugu have commented rightly 
that “A trade union, although possessing many o f the most attributes o f 
a corporate person is clearly not a person at law”.n
Therefore, a sharp distinction cannot be made between its fortunes and 
those o f its members and officials82.
80. In Nigeria, there is plethora o f statutory provisions making trade union liable for civil wrongs and guilty of 
criminal offences. For example, The Trade Union (Amendment) Act 2005 makes room for liability of trade 
union in respect of strike, picketing etc. Section 30 (7) of the Act criminalizes strike and lock out. It states 
“Any person trade union or employer who contravenes any of the provisions of this section commits an 
offence and is liable on convection to a fine of N 10,000.00k OR six month imprisonment or to both fine and 
imprisonment, etc. In Tafif Vale v. ASRS (1901) AC 436. Lord Halsbury said “if the legislature has created 
something which can own property, which can employ servants and which can inflict injury, it must be taken 
I think to have impliedly given the power to make it suable in a court of law for injuries purposely done by its 
power and procurement.'’ Also, in United Kingdom, section 224 of the TULR(C) A 1992 removes immunity of 
trade union for inducing abreach of, or interfering w ith a contract of employment or threatening to do so 
where the employer under the contract o f employment is not a party to the dispute except in the case o f lawful 
picketing.
81. Even a company in Nigeria does not possess the full attributes o f a natural person. It has been held that a 
company cannot be a citizen of Nigeria. In Alumaco Manufacturing Co (Nig) Ltd v. Oshodi/lsollo Local High 
Court suit no M/10/83 Adefarasin C.J said that “A company is not with respect, a citizen of Nigeria and can 
not be sued before a Customary Court Law Cap 33 as amended’. In United States of America, some corporations 
as juristic persons have enjoyed certain constitutional rights intended for natural persons. In Britain, the court 
held that a company is incapable o f ‘exercising itself in the duties o f piety and religion (Rollowswin Investment 
Ltd v. Chromolit Portugal Cutelarias (1970) 2 All E.R 673 or capable o f being deemed a rogue and a vagabond 
(A.G v. Walker Gate Press Ltd [1930] 142 LJ 408)
82. See Prof. E.E. Uvieghara and Dr. J.E.O. Abugu Trade Union Law in Commercial Law in Nigeria edited by 
Prof. E. O. Akanki University of Lagos Press 2005 pg. 781. They argued that liability o f officers of the trade 
union will affect the trade union despite its immunity. To them, anything “which affects the membership, 
especially liabilities on them in the circumstances of a trade dispute, is likely to affect the union as an entiri
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In the final analysis, controversy as to the status o f trade union has been 
laid to rest in Nigeria but not in Great Britain where the position o f law 
has been beclouded with uncertainty as a result o f  the legislative 
enactm ent83 which rendered  void84 and inapplicable the judicial 
precedents85 which purported to invest the trade union with the status o f 
corporate personality.
Be that as it may, the statutory obligations imposed by law as concomitant 
o f  registration and corporate entity attribute are not autocratic or 
disdainful except in some circumstances where they are made to subvert 
the rule o f law and the right o f the people86.
Therefore, it is our view that to subject trade unions to certain minimum 
standards that will ensure equity and accountability in the formulation 
and execution o f their policies should not be seen as unfair but a benefit 
that could facilitate legitimacy in trade unions’ administration.
83. The Industrial Relations Act 1971 provided for the formal incorporation of trade unions and the trade unions who 
registered under the Act attained full incorporated status. However, in 1974, the new Labour Government repealed 
the majority provisions of the Industrial Relations Act 1971 and replaced it with the Trade Union and Labour Relations 
Act 1974. Section 2(1) of the 1974 Act (now section 10(3) of TULRCA 1992) provides that a union is not and should 
not be treated as if it is a body corporate, that it is unincorporated association of workers and that attempt to register 
it under Companies Act would be void.
84. The Act expressly provided that trade union should not be treated as a corporate body. In EEPTU v. Times Newspaper 
(1980) where a trade union sued for defarmation over an article which was published in the newspaper. Oconnor J. 
held that despite the fact that section 2(1) conferred on unions most of the features of corporate status, the implication 
of the express legislative enactment that trade union shall not be treated as a corporate body was that the union was 
not a corporate body and consequentially did not posses the reputation of a corporate body. He explained further that 
a trade union was an association of individuals with exhaustively defined collective powers. His decision as to the 
status of trade union was affirmed by the Court of Appeal in Times Newspaper Ltd v Derbyshire County Council 
(1992) 3 All ER 65. The Court of Appeal made an obiter comment that Galian’s case was not the current position of 
the law. That the law had changed since NUGMU v. Gallian and a union could no longer maintain an action for 
defamation in its own name: “the statutory injunction that a union is not and is not to be treated as a corporation meant 
that it should not be treated as having a personality capable of being damaged through defamation.” However, element 
of confusion set in when the case came to the House of Lord on appeal. Lord Keith who gave the leading judgment 
which was unanimously followed by his colleagues commented favourably on the decision of the Court of Appeal in 
Gillian that it was a good judgment with sound reasons for it and went on to discuss the relevance of Gilian’s case to 
other cases concerning non-trading associations. Lord Keith failed to comment on EETPU is case or on the assumption 
of the Court of Appeal that Gillian’s case no longer represented the correct legal position.
85. Farwell J’s decision in Vale Railway Co v. Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants (1901) AC 426 and the 
confirmation by the House of Lords. The re-affirmation in Osborne v. Amalgamated Society of Railway Workers 
(1910) AC 97. Infact Earl of Harlsbury observed that Trade Union Acts represented a trade union’s charter of 
incorporations. In Gillian v. National Union of General and Municipal Workers (1946) KB 81 the Court of Appeal 
relied on Taff Vale to hold that a trade union possessed sufficient characteristics of a company to conclude that it has 
corporate personality and therefore is capable of being defamed. Infact Uthwart J and Scott LJ majority of the judges 
concluded that it should possess the attributes of an incorporated body. Even in Bonsor v. Musician’s Union (1956) 
AC 100 Lord. Morton and Lord Porter recognized that a union may not possess the full powers of an incorporated 
body, yet they concurred with “the nation stemming from Taff Vale that a union possessed most of the attributes of a 
corporation.
86. The Trade Union Amendment Act 2005 is an example of this law.
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