Supreme Court reinstates five sacked UNILORIN lecturers
By Yusuf Alli Published Today News Rating: Unrated

[b]Dr. Oloruntoba-Oju, one of the victorious lecturers THE Supreme Court yesterday declared the dismissal of five of the 49 lecturers of the University of Ilorin by the university management as illegal, null and void.
The court also ordered the immediate reinstatement of the sacked lecturers after a seven-year legal tussle.
The court asked the university management to also pay the salaries and allowances of the lecturers from 2001 to date.
The 49 lecturers, including the five that got justice yesterday, were dismissed by the management of UNILORIN in 2001 for participating in a nationwide strike action by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
The victorious UNILORIN ASUU leaders are Dr. Taiwo Oloruntoba-Oju---Chairman;  Debo Ajayi - Secretary; Sola Ademiluka - Assistant Secretary; Adeyinka Bamiwo - Financial Secretary; and Olu Olugbara - Ex-officio member.
The five leaders and 44 others had at the Federal High Court, Ilorin, sued the then Vice-Chancellor of UNILORIN, Prof. Oba AbdulRaheem; the Governing Council of the University, headed by Gen. Salihu Ibrahim; the University of Ilorin and the then Registrar of the university, Tunde Balogun, for illegal termination of their appointments.

Through their counsel, Mr. John Bayeshea (SAN), they said their appointments were pensionable and statutory in nature and was governed by the Senior Staff Regulations of the University and the University of Ilorin Act Cap 455 Laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1990, and that they could not be dismissed without fair hearing in line with the extant law.

On November 2, 2005, Justice P. Olayiwola of the Federal High Court nullified the dismissal of the lecturers and ordered their reinstatement.

But the management of UNILORIN, through its counsel, Mallam Yusuf Ali (SAN), however, went to the Court of Appeal, Ilorin Division, to challenge the judgment of the Federal High Court.

The appellate court, in a 2-1 split decision on July 12, 2006, held that the dismissal of the academic staff was legally effected by the university.

Dissatisfied with the judgment of the Court of Appeal, the lecturers, in 2007, went to the Supreme Court, arguing that their sack was illegal, null and void.

They asked the Supreme Court to determine whether the justices of the Court of Appeal were right to conclude that the Federal High Court had no jurisdiction to entertain their case.

They also urged the court to determine whether the Court of Appeal was right in entertaining the respondents’ appeal when they did not comply with Section 15[1] of the Unilorin Act Cap 455 Laws of the Federation 1990 before terminating their appointments without fair hearing.

In a unanimous judgment read by Justice Olufumilayo Folasade Adekeye, the apex court upheld all the prayers of the lecturers, who were mostly leaders of the UNILORIN chapter of ASUU.

The court held that the UNILORIN management did not give the lecturers fair hearing before their dismissal.

The Supreme Court faulted the decision of the Court of Appeal of July 12, 2006 which had upheld the dismissal of the 49 lecturers.

Adekeye, who read the lead judgment, said: "We have considered the arguments of both sides alongside the Universities Act in respect of fair hearing and there is no iota of truth in the contention that the sacked lecturers were given fair hearing.

"Although the Universities Act allows the institution to employ and discipline its staff but it must be in conformity with the principle of fair hearing.

"Accordingly, I grant all the relieves as prayed by the appellants, and order that the appellants be re-instated to their offices with immediate effect, all their salaries and allowances should be paid to them from the date of their sack to the date they are re-instated to the offices.

"The majority judgment of the Court of Appeal is hereby set aside and the judgment is hereby affirmed."

Justice Adekeye also awarded N60,000.00 against the respondents.


The five justices of the Supreme Court who decided the fate of the lecturers are Justices Dahiru Musdapher (Presiding); Mahmood Muhammed; Adekeye; Francis Tabai; and Ikechi Ogbuagbu.

The text of the judgment of the apex court was not immediately available as the court was still working on a neat copy following detection of typographical errors.

Although yesterday’s judgement was in favour of the five ASUU leaders, it might have a spiral effect on the hearing of the application of the 44 others by the Supreme Court on September 28, 2009.

Going by legal precedent, the decision of the application of the 44 lecturers might be a mere formality because their prayers are not substantially different from their leaders.

The appellants’ counsel, Bayeshea (SAN), who spoke through his representative, Mr. Wahab Ismail, yesterday said: "The judgement is purely in tenet with justice. It further reinforces the point that no matter how long it takes, justice will surely come. It is a victory for democracy and the rule of law." [/b]

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