Supreme Court affirms recall of 181 sacked personnel of NSCDC

The Supreme Court has affirmed the decision of the Court of
Appeal, Abuja that recalled 181 sacked personnel of the Nigeria
Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).

Delivering judgment on Monday, the Acting Chief Justice of
Nigeria (CJN), Justice Tanko Mahammad struck out the appeal filed
by the corps challenging the decision of the lower court.

The acting CJN, who led four other justices, held that the apex
court lacked that jurisdiction to entertain the matter.

He said that Section 248 (4) of the 1999 Constitution as amended
placed all legal disputes which emanated from the National
Industrial Court (NIC) to terminate at the court of appeal.

Mahammad further said that that apex court was therefore not
vested with the jurisdiction to entertain such appeals.

“In the circumstance, the appellant applicant has reached its
limit and the appeal is therefore struck out.

“The matter has come to its finality’’, he said.

The lost appeal was filed by NSCDC against the judgment by the
National Industrial Court (NIC), reinstating 182 of its personnel
who were wrongly dismissed.

NIC had, in a judgment on March 19, 2015, ordered the NSCDC to
reinstate the sacked staff with their full emoluments from the time
they were illegally dismissed.

The trial court also ordered NSCDC to return the employment
letters to the affected personnel and pay all arrears of their
salaries amounting to about N1.2 billion.

The court restrained the NSCDC from further tampering with the
employment of the affected personnel.

Dissatisfied with the judgment, the NSCDC, and Immigration and
Prisons Service Board (who were respondents at the NIC) appealed
the judgment, but failed to diligently prosecute it.

A three-man panel of the Court of Appeal, led by Justice Moore
Adumein, in a ruling, on July 18, 2016, upheld the respondents’
request and dismissed the appeal for lack of diligent
prosecution.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that Obono Musa and 180
others had sued the then Commandant-General, NSCDC, alleging
unlawful termination of their employments.

They prayed the court to declare that the verbal and oral
suspension of the claimants by the NSCDC was null, void and of no
effect.

The claimants also sought an order directing the defendants to
recall all the claimants to work and to also release the original
copies of their letters of employment to them.

They also asked for an order of the court directing the
defendants to immediately pay them all arrears of salaries from
2007 till date.

Speaking to newsmen after the court session, Mr Ibrahim Bawa,
Counsel to the respondents expressed delight on the outcome of the
case, adding that his clients had been exposed to hardship since
2007 when they were unlawfully sacked.

He therefore urged President Muhammadu Buhari to impress it on
the Commandant-General of the corps to without delay effect the
decision of the apex court.

Bawa also said that the president might contemplate
investigating the untidy manner the establishment was managed.

NAN further reports that the 181 personnel of the corps were
seen dancing and thanking God for their legal victory in the
premises of the court. (NAN)