Court Dismisses Former NSITF MD, Executive Director’s Suit Challenging Sack

By Alex Enumah

Justice Olufunke Anuwe of the National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN) has dismissed the suit jointly filed by the former Managing Director of the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), Adebayo Somefun, and former Executive Director of Operations, Kemi Nelson, challenging their suspension and subsequent removal from office.

President Muhammadu Buhari, acting through the Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, had in July last year approved the suspension and subsequent sack of the complainants.

Justice Anuwe in a judgment delivered last Wednesday dismissed the suit for lacking in merit.

Somefun and Nelson had approached the court to challenge their suspension and subsequent removal from office on the grounds that the action did not only violate some provisions of the NSITF Act, but equally contravened the president’s directive through the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) that no minister should suspend or sack any head of an agency.

Defendants in the suit marked: NICN/ABJ/ 185/2020 were the Minister of Labour and Employment, the President of Federal Republic of Nigeria, the Attorney General of the Federation and the NSITF Board.

The claimants had asked the court to determine whether having regards to the provisions of Section 2, 3, 4,5,6,7 and 8 of the NSITF Act, their suspension by the first defendant (Minister of Labour and Employment) purportedly with the approval of the second defendant (president) does not amount to illegality, usurpation of the powers of the Board and negation of due process of the law.

The claimants also asked the court to determine whether having regard to Section 2, 3,4,5,6, 7 and 8 of the NSITF Act and circumstances of the suit, the defendant has the powers to suspend the Managing Director and Executive Directors from office.

They equally asked the court to determine whether by the combined provisions of Section 6, 7 and 8 of the NSITF Act and paragraph 3 and 5 of the Circular with reference number SGF/0p/1S3/T/163 issued on May 19, 2020, the letter dated July 1, 2020, is not illegal, null and void on the ground that the Minister of Labour and Employment has no powers to issue the said letters and in particular to communicate to the claimants the decision of the President, suspending them from office.

The claimants further asked the court to determine whether having regard to the combined provisions of Section 36 (1) and (2) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as altered and Section 6 and 8 of the NSITF Act, the Minister of Labour and Employment acted properly when he suspended the claimants as Managing Director and Executive Director of the Board of NSITF, purporting to have established prima facie infractions on the Financial Regulation and Procurement Act and gross misconduct against them in breach of the claimants constitutional guaranteed right to fair hearing.

Delivering judgment, Justice Anuwe considered issues 1 to 3 together and held that it was not the first defendant (Minister of Labour and Employment) that suspended the claimants from office but the second defendant (President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria).

On issue four, Justice Anuwe held that the suspension of the claimants was a prelude to the investigation of the allegations made against them.

According to the Judge, suspension from work or office is a disciplinary procedure which keeps away an employee or appointee being disciplined from duty for a fixed or terminal period or indefinitely pending investigation into the alleged misconduct.

Consequently, the Judge dismissed the suit for lacking in merit.