Dr. Tunji Alausa, the Minister of Education, has been urged to take disciplinary action against Prof. Abdullahi Ribadu, the Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), and four other senior officials for allegedly disobeying court orders that mandated a former employee’s reinstatement.
Former commission employee Mr. Kunle Rotimi made the call, accusing the NUC leadership of ignoring a number of valid court decisions that ordered him to return to service and pay all of his outstanding entitlements since March 1996.
Rotimi revealed that he had started criminal contempt and committal proceedings against the officials in his petition to the Education Minister, calling the ongoing non-compliance an act of contempt of court.
Mr. Paschal Eruaga (Deputy Director of Legal Services), Mrs. Victoria Omorodion (Director of Human Resources), Mrs. Hauwa Amos (Director of Finance), and Mr. Chris Maiyaki (Deputy Executive Secretary) are all mentioned in the court proceedings and named in the petition.
On July 6, 2020, the National Industrial Court rendered a decision supporting Rotimi’s reinstatement and restitution. On June 28, 2024, the Court of Appeal upheld the lower court’s decision and mandated immediate compliance, defeating the NUC’s appeal.
Rotimi, however, asserts that the NUC has not yet put the order into effect more than a year after the appellate verdict, which has led to additional legal actions and official notification to the Federal Ministry of Education.
He encouraged the Ministry to implement the Public Service Rules (PSR) provisions that permit public personnel who are the subject of criminal proceedings to be suspended or placed under interdiction. In his own words:
“In light of the aforementioned facts, I respectfully request that the Hon. Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, use the PSR against the NUC officials.”
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Former journalist Rotimi contended that keeping the officials in office while the judicial process is ongoing could undermine public institutions’ credibility and be interpreted as administrative indifference.
He called for accountability and respect for the law, saying, “It is unacceptable that public resources may be used to defend acts perceived as contemptuous of court.”
He also cautioned that if nothing is done against the officials in spite of ongoing legal proceedings, the Ministry might be seen as complicit.
Rotimi emphasized that the long-term disregard for court rulings is against Nigerian law’s ethical requirements for public officials as well as the 1999 Constitution.
