The National Industrial Court sitting in Abuja has upturned the compulsory retirement of a serving army colonel, Mohammed Auwal Suleman.
The Nigerian Army Council had in June 2016 dismissed 38 officers on alleged offences, bordering on various infractions.
But the court in a judgment on Wednesday voided and set aside the dismissal of Suleiman, one of the dismissed officers.
The Industrial Court ordered the Nigerian Army Council to immediately reinstate Suleiman to the position he was in 2016 when the purported compulsory retirement was carried.
In addition, the court ordered the Army Council to effect his due promotion, pay all his salaries and emoluments due to him from 2016 till date.
Justice Sanusi Kado held that the disengagement of Suleiman by the Nigerian Army vied a letter of compulsory retirement in 2016, was ultra vires, illegal, unlawful, null and void.
Suleiman had approached the court to challenge his unlawful dismissal from service on grounds that the army did not follow laid down procedure before relieving him of his service.
Delivering judgment in the suit number NICN/ABJ/315/16, the judge held that it was not at the behest of the army to hire and fire, adding that once an employment enjoys statutory flavour, appropriate steps in line with the law governing that employment must be taking to bring such relationship to an end.
Justice Kado said that having not followed its own rules and guidelines of employment, the action of the army in retiring the claimant is unconstitutional, null and void and of no effect.
He stated that although the army had cited serious disciplinary offences as grounds for compulsorily retiring the claimant, it nevertheless failed to prove any of such offences said to have been committed by the claimant.
In addition, the court added that claim of over stayed in office which the defendant described as a serious disciplinary offence, was not stated in the letter disengaging the claimant from office.
He subsequently ordered the reinstatement of Suleiman to his rank in the Nigerian Army before he was disengaged in June 9, 2016.
The court rejected the evidence giving by the only witness of the army council, David Igodalo to the effect that the colonel was compulsorily retired because he overstayed beyond the eighteen years he ought to have stayed in the army and thus allegedly breach Section 30 of the Nigerian Army Council Act.
The judge noted that the witness lacked knowledge of the case of the plaintiff and was not a reliable witness because throughout his evidence he never drew the attention of the court to the condition of service that stipulated that the colonel was to serve only 18 years.
Rather, Kado held that from the words of the letter of appointment issued to the colonel upon his commissioning as an army officer in 1995, the appointment has flavour of statutory and guided by the condition of service in the Nigerian Army, adding that anything to the contrary as in the reason adduced for the unlawful retirement is a total and clear breach of the law.
Justice Kado further held that the claim of the colonel that he served for 25 years and nine months diligently and received accolades nationally and internationally was not disputed by the Nigerian Army, and therefore there was no lawful reason to justify the allegation of serious offence in the purported letter of compulsory retirement.
Suleman, a colonel had served in the Presidential Guard, Military Intelligence Unit, coordinated the activities of the Anti-Terrorism Joint Taskforce that recovered many towns from Boko Haram in the North-East in addition to his international postings where he received numerous recognitions and awards.
The court agreed with counsel to the plaintiff, Olayinka Adedeji that the purported compulsory retirement was done in bad faith and ought not to be allowed to stand in the face of the law.
Consequently, Justice Kado declared the purported retirement and the letter as null and void and of no effect whatsoever.
Before Suleiman’s judgment, the Industrial Court had previously ordered the army to reinstate four other affected officers.
They include Nwokoro Ijeoma, major general, and Danladi Hassan, a colonel.
Others are Abdulfatai Mohammed and Thomas Arigbe, both lieutenant colonels.
