The National Industrial Court of Nigeria, Bauchi judicial division has set aside the termination of the appointment of Alhaji Mohammed Aliyu Abubakar as the pioneer Bursar of Federal University Kashere, Gombe state and ordered for his immediate reinstatement into the services of the institution.
The Court also ordered for the immediate payment of his withheld salaries from November 2016 to date.
The University had on 31 October 2016 wrongfully terminated Alhaji Abubakar’s appointment by claiming to be acting on the instructions for the Honourable Minister of Education who had earlier constituted a fact finding committee to investigate some allegations of wrongdoing in the university.
The claimant thereafter commenced legal proceedings against both the Vice Chancellor and the university on 14, December 2016 after giving the Vice Chancellor a one week pre action notice.
In his judgment yesterday in Bauchi, the presiding judge, Justice K. I. Amadi held that action of the University is unlawful having denied Alhaji Abubakar fair hearing as is enshrined in the Federal University, Kashere (Establishment) Act 2015, the rules and regulations governing the condition of service of the university and the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended.
Reacting to the court judgment, Abubakar told newsmen that the court’s decision did not come to him as a surprise considering the fact that the university did not give him either a fair or foul hearing, adding that the whole affair is politically motivated and poorly orchestrated, “I expressed gratitude to Almighty Allah for guiding and sustaining me through years of litigation with the university over frivolous and baseless allegations.”
In his remark, counsel to plaintiff, Barrister Aniekan Mandie, said that denial of fair hearing is an incalculable injury and therefore the only remedy is a nullification. It has been so declared by the court today in this judgment and therefore the purported termination of the claimant’s appointment has no legal effect whatsoever.
He noted that the University is under obligation to obey the judgment by restoring Alhaji Abubakar into it’s services with all his benefits and entitlements.
Efforts to get the reactions of the lawyers representing the university for their reactions to the judgment were not successful as they left court premises shortly after rulings.
