NUC officials face possible imprisonment for alleged contempt

The Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Prof Abdullahi Ribadu, along with four senior officials, has been accused of defying a court order, thereby facing charges of contempt.

They are said to have failed to follow a directive from the court to reinstate a former staff member, Mr Kunle Rotimi, and to pay him all entitlements that had previously been denied.

The ruling, which was affirmed by the Court of Appeal on June 28, 2024, required the NUC to act on it without delay.

Despite this, the NUC leadership did not comply, resulting in contempt proceedings being initiated.

The additional individuals named in the case include 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.

A previous ruling on July 6, 2020, from a lower court had directed the NUC to reinstate Mr Rotimi and provide him with all outstanding entitlements, which included unpaid salaries, allowances, emoluments, bonuses, privileges, and benefits from March 1996 to the date of judgment.

The NUC was not satisfied with the verdict and appealed, but the Lagos Division of the Court of Appeal rejected the appeal completely.

On June 28, 2024, the appellate court reaffirmed the decision of the trial court and again instructed the NUC to implement the ruling without delay.

Despite this, after ten months, the NUC management had not acted on the court’s decision.

The dispute dates back to 1995/96 when the NUC had granted Mr Rotimi full sponsorship approval for a training programme.

He alleged that after refusing to offer gratification requested by some NUC officials to facilitate the release of his funding for a Master’s programme at the University of Ibadan, the commission deliberately withheld his course-related allowances and salary.

According to him, this act of denial led him to resign voluntarily in protest.

He further claimed that the NUC not only rejected his resignation in bad faith but also dismissed him without granting him a fair hearing.

He brought legal action against the commission at the National Industrial Court under suit numbers NICN/LA/646/2018 and NICN/LA/53m/2020.

The court ruled in his favour, ordering the NUC to reinstate him and pay all accumulated entitlements.

Although the commission appealed the ruling, they lost, yet have still not adhered to the court’s decision ten months later.