The Akure division of the National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN) has struck out the case of the Ekiti State University (EKSU) over the dismissal of 32 National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT) in December 2019.

The industrial court had earlier ordered that the dismissed staff be reinstated but the university failed to do so. Instead, it filed a suit asking for “stay of execution” before the same court and “leave of appeal” at the Ado-Ekiti Division of the Appeal Court.

The university insisted that it had filed a suit for the leave of appeal before the Court of Appeal but neither the Industrial Court nor the NAAT’s lawyers were served the documents to that effect.

Through a virtual court session on Monday morning, Justice K. D. Damulak made the ruling in favour of the dismissed 32 NAAT members because the university’s case for “stay of execution” lacked merit and failed to comply with the provisions of the National Industrial Court.

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Perebo Pesta Monde, the NAAT lawyer, told FIJ about the outcome of the session, saying: “The university management were insisting orally that they had filed the leave of appeal before the Court of Appeal but they didn’t serve the industrial court or me as the NAAT’s lawyer.

“The court deals with hard facts and evidence rather than oral statements.”

Joshua Ogundipe, the leader of the dismissed NAAT members, however, expressed worries that the judge’s verdict may have stalled because of the ongoing strike by the Judicial Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN).

He said: “The verdict has been given by the judge but the administrative staff of court like the clerk, registrar are affected.

“Until the strike is suspended, we cannot proceed to the physical court to execute the ruling.” 

Bode Olofinmuagun, the Head of the Directorate of Information and Corporate Affairs of the university, has neither answered his calls nor responded to the text message over the verdict.