Justice Polycarp Hamman of the National Industrial Court in Port Harcourt has dismissed the preliminary objection filed by Seateam Offshore Ltd challenging the court’s jurisdiction over a case brought by Stephen Akuroma.
Seateam had argued that the plaintiff’s claims were maritime in nature and should solely be heard by the Federal High Court under the Admiralty Jurisdiction Act But Justice Hamman ruled that with the 3rd Alteration vesting the court with exclusive jurisdiction over labour matter Seateam’s argument questioning its authority to hear maritime employment cases had no merit.
In his ruling, Justice Polycarp affirmed the Industrial Court’s specialized mandate to expeditiously handle all labour and employment matters, including Stephen’s case relating to worker’s health and safety issues onboard a ship.
This landmark ruling has settled the jurisdictional question and paved the way for the substantive maritime labour dispute to proceed in the Industrial Court.
