Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Prof Abdullahi Ribadu, and four other top officials have been accused of contempt of court.
They allegedly disobeyed a court order to reinstate a former staff member, Mr Kunle Rotimi, and provide him with all denied entitlements.
The order, upheld by the Appeal Court on June 28, 2024, mandated NUC to comply immediately.
However, NUC management failed to do so, leading to the contempt charges
The other defendants are NUC Deputy Executive Secretary, Mr Chris Maiyaki; Director of Finance & Accounts, Mrs. Hauwa Amos; Director of Human Resources, Mrs Victoria Omoredion and the Deputy Director of Legal Services Mr. Pascal Eruoga.
The lower court had on July 6, 2020, ordered NUC to reinstate Mr Rotimi and give him all his denied entitlements, comprising payments of accrued salaries, allowances, emoluments, bonuses, privileges and benefits, from March 1996 up to the date of the judgment.
Dissatisfied, the NUC appealed, but the Court of Appeal in Lagos dismissed the appeal in its entirety.
The Appeal Court upheld the verdict of the trial court on June 28, 2024, and ordered NUC to comply immediately.
Ten months later, NUC management had not complied with the court order.
The cause of action arose in 1995/96 when NUC management offered Mr Rotimi full sponsorship approval for training.
He claimed that because he refused the demand for gratification by some management officials to facilitate the release of funds for the Master’s degree course at the University of Ibadan, his approved course allowances and salaries were unlawfully and arbitrarily withheld.
This, he said, compelled him to resign voluntarily in protest.
He claimed NUC maliciously rejected the resignation and dismissed him without a fair hearing.
He sued at the National Industrial Court in suit marked NICN/ LA/646/2018 and later NICN/LA/53m/2020.
The court ordered the respondent to reinstate him and pay him his accrued entitlements.
Dissatisfied, the respondents appealed and still lost, but refused to obey the judgment 10 months after.
