Section 13: Persons convicted of certain offences disqualified from holding office in a trade union.

(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, a person who has been convicted of any of the offences mentioned in subsection (3) of this section, shall be disqualified from holding office as an official of a trade union during the whole of the period of disqualification applicable to him in accordance with subsection (4) of this section:
Provided that a person shall not be disqualified under this section by reason only of his having been convicted of an offence in respect of which he has been granted a free pardon.
(2) For the purposes of this section, a conviction which occurred before the commencement of this Act shall be taken into account in determining whether a person is disqualified under this section.
(3) The offences referred to in subsection (1) of this section, are as follows-
(a) the offences under the Criminal Code or the Penal Code which may lead to the disqualification of membership of the National Assembly and the Houses of Assembly; and
(b) any offence under section 48 or 49 of this Act.
(4) The period of disqualification applicable to a person convicted of any such offence as aforesaid shall begin with the date of his conviction thereof and-
(a) if he is sentenced to imprisonment for that offence, shall end with the expiration of the period of five years beginning with the date on which he is discharged from prison; or
(b) if he is not sentenced to imprisonment for that offence, shall end with the expiration of the period of five years beginning with the date of his conviction.
(5) Where a person is convicted of any such offence as aforesaid and an appeal lies against the conviction, he shall not be treated for the purposes of this section as having been convicted thereof unless and until either-
(a) the time for bringing an appeal against the decision has expired without such an appeal having been brought; or
(b) such an appeal has been brought and abandoned or has been finally determined by the upholding of the conviction,
and the reference in subsection (4) of this section to the date of his conviction of the offence shall be construed accordingly.
(6) Subject to subsection (7) of this section, where any person holding office as an official of a trade union becomes disqualified under this section, he shall forthwith vacate that office; and any person who, at any time after the commencement of this Act, purports to act as an official of a trade union at any time while he is so disqualified shall be guilty of an offence against this Act and be liable on summary conviction to a fine of N 100.
(7) A person holding office as aforesaid at the commencement of this Act who, apart from this subsection, would become disqualified under this section as from the date of the commencement of this Act by virtue of a conviction which occurred before that date shall be exempted from the operation of subsection (6) of this section until the end of the period of three months beginning with that date, and accordingly need not vacate his office until the end of that period unless lawfully required to do so apart from this section.
(8) Nothing in this section shall be construed as affecting the validity of anything done by an official of a trade union before the date of the commencement of this Act or as rendering unlawful anything done by any such official before that date.