Court orders reinstatement of KWASU lecturer
The National Industrial Court sitting in Benin, has ordered the immediate reinstatement of a lecturer of Kwara State University, Malete, Prof Innocent Okoye, who was sacked by the management.
The Court held that the procedure leading to the termination of the appointment of the Prof. Okoye did not follow the principles of fair hearing as provided in the Kwara State University Law, 2008 and Kwara State University Conditions of Service and Regulations.
Justice Adunola Adewemimo, declared the sack of the lecturer in the Department of Mass Communication as null and void, ordering reinstatement with payment of salaries and entitlements from the date of the unlawful termination.
In the judgment, which was made available on the court website on Wednesday, the court held that the position that the court will not and should not interfere in the internal affairs of a University is not absolute that in order to successfully and effectively resist the interference by the court in its affairs, the institution must be seen to have acted within its powers.
“There is no dispute that the issuance of query initiated the disciplinary proceedings against the claimant. However, I find that the issuance of query is not in consonance with the provisions of the law, as there is no evidence that the Council delegated the power to issue same to the Registrar or any iota of evidence that the Council and Management are the same.
“It is in view of the non-compliance to the provisions of the statutes guiding the claimant’s employment that I find that the entire process leading to the termination of the claimant’s appointment, having been done in breach of laws regulating the employment relationship of the parties is fundamentally flawed and invalid.” Justice Adewemimo ruled.
The Claimant- Prof Okoye had pleaded that while appearing before the Senior Staff Disciplinary Committee on 13/11/2017 many allegations were leveled against him but the names of the alleged complainants were not disclosed and none of them was present before the committee.
He stated that he did not hear of any further development on the matter, until the letter dated the 16th January, 2018 titled “Termination of Appointment” was served on him. He averred that the entire process leading to the termination of his appointment did not comply with the university condition of service and due process of law.
In reaction, the defendants pleaded that claimant was issued a query on allegation of misconduct but his response was found unsatisfactory and the language discourteous, which again constituted an act of gross misconduct against the university.
The defendants claimed that the claimant did not dispute his knowledge of the allegation of misconduct but the Committee, after deliberating on the evidence presented before it, recommended the termination of the claimant’s employment, prayed the court to dismiss the case for being vexatious, that the Law was aptly and duly followed in terminating the claimant’s employment.
