Appeal Court reinstates 118 sacked Ekiti varsity workers

The Appeal Court sitting in Ado Ekiti, has ordered the reinstatement of 118 workers of Ekiti State University, Ado Ekiti, who were disengaged in December 2019.

They included 32 staff members of the laboratory department who were reinstated by the Appeal Court on March 25 and 86 other employees consisting of both academic and non-academic staff, who were also reinstated yesterday by the appellate court.

The National Industrial Court sitting in Akure had earlier ordered the reinstatement of the sacked workers in the two separate suits filed by the two groups following which EKSU appealed the verdicts.

Justice Olatunde Awotoye of the Appeal Court, who, in the verdict, ordered the reinstatement of the 32 laboratory technologists, said: “They were unlawfully sacked by the University Governing Council which failed to comply with the provisions of the institution’s employment regulation”.

Consequently, the court ordered the university to pay “the claimants the salaries owed them before their unlawful disengagement”.

Justice Awotoye also ordered the university to pay each of the sacked workers N50,000 as cost of prosecuting the case of those who sued the university for wrongful and illegal termination of the appointment.

EKSU was also ordered to “pay the claimants their salaries, emoluments and allowance from the date of the unlawful termination till reinstatement and subsequently till retirement” and as well “the salaries and cost are to be paid within 30 days of the judgment”.

Also delivering judgment in the case of the 86 sacked non teaching and academic staff, Justice Abdul-Azeez Waziri, who read the lead judgment, dismissed the appeal and ordered reinstatement of the employees with payment of their full benefits.

The court directed the university to pay N50,000 to each respondent as cost and as well ordered that the employees should be paid arrears of their three months salaries.

In his reaction, one of the reinstated staff, Mr Ajayi Babatunde, said, “The judgment showed that there is still hope for the common man in Nigeria”.

THE NATION