NIGERIAN WORKERS HAVE UNFETTERED CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT TO PARTICIPATE IN PARTISAN POLITICS
A Press Statement
The attention of the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has been drawn to a statement by the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs. Didi Esther Walson-Jack, that civil servants are banned from participating in partisan politics. We are alarmed that this matter is being resurrected again after Organised Labour thought that it had been thrashed before the 2023 general election.
Nigerians would recall that in the run-up to the 2023 general election, there was a circular from the Office of the Head of Service of the Federation, referenced HCSF/479/11/19 and titled “CLARIFICATION ON THE PROVISION OF PUBLIC SERVICE RULES (PSR) VIS-À-VIS THE SUPREME COURT JUDGEMENT AS IT RELATES TO PARTICIPATION OF CIVIL SERVANTS IN PARTISAN POLITICS”.
The Nigeria Labour Congress wrote to the Head of Service of the Federation and the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, positing that the opinion that barred civil servants from participating in partisan politics is anomalous with the provisions of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the judgment of the Supreme Court on this issue.
Section 40 of the 1999 Constitution is explicit in its unqualified provision and guarantee of the right of every Nigerian, including civil servants to assemble freely and associate with other persons. The verbatim rendering of Section 40 of the 1999 Constitution states as follows:
“Every person shall be entitled to assemble freely and associate with other persons, and in particular he may form or belong to any political party, trade union or any other association for the protection of his interests…”
The foregoing clear and explicit provision of the Constitution of Nigeria does not require any further interpretation. Just to make the matter of the freedom of civil servants to engage in partisan politics clearer, the Supreme Court of Nigeria, in a suit between INEC and AGF vs Musa and Others (20023), ruled in an unambiguous judgment delivered by Late Chief Justice Mohammed Lawal Uwais, which excerpts are as follows:
“The provisions of Section 40 of the 1999 Constitution are clear. Their import is to allow “every person”, including public office holders and civil servants, the freedom to assemble and associate with other persons, to form and belong to any political party, or trade union or any association for the protection of their interests.”
It is important to note that the provision of Section 40 of the Nigerian Constitution, reinforced by a Supreme Court judgement, is buttressed by Sections 66(1); 107(1)(f); 137(1)(g); 142(2); 182; 187(2); and 222 which acknowledge the right of civil and public servants to engage in partisan politics and stand for elective positions. The only condition is that such public servants must resign from their positions at least 30 days before the elections in which to stand as CANDIDATES (not aspirants) are held.
In light of Sections 66(1); 107(1)(f); 137(1)(g); 142(2); 182; 187(2); and 222, one wonders whether a public servant can emerge as a candidate of a political party, at which point they are required to resign their appointment as civil servant, if they had not been card-carrying members of political parties and participated in partisan political activities. There are a plethora of instances where civil servants have engaged in partisan politics until they emerged as candidates of their political parties before resigning.
From the evidence provided by both the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the rulings of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, it is clear that the Head of Civil Service of the Federation spoke in error and out of tune with the provisions of the law and legal precedent. This renders her statement as a personal opinion, albeit not founded on law.
We call on all civil servants and workers in the private sector to actively engage in partisan politics as part of their civic responsibilities.
Comrade Joe Ajaero
President, Nigeria Labour Congress
18th August 2025