Court Orders Immediate Reinstatement of Sacked UI Lecturer

Alex Enumah

Justice J.D. Peters of the National Industrial Court, sitting in Ibadan, Oyo, has ordered the immediate reinstatement of Dr. Oladoyin Odebowale as a lecturer at the University of Ibadan.

Similarly, Justice Peters ordered the immediate reinstatement of a staff of the Oyo State Board of Internal Revenue (BIR), Adetoro Abiola Olayinka, dismissed from service in 2015.

In two separate judgments delivered on November 18, 2021, Justice Peters held that the procedures followed by both the authorities of the University of Ibadan and the Board of Internal Revenue ran contrary to laid down laws and procedures.

Dr. Odebowale had in his suit marked NICN/IB/109/2016 and, dated December 6, 2016, approached the court to set aside his dismissal from the employment of the University of Ibadan because of the principle of fair hearing was not observed before his sack.

In his suit marked Suit number NICN/IB/182016, Adetoro Olayinka, had dragged the Board of Internal Revenue of Oyo State, Civil Service Commission, Oyo State and Attorney General, Oyo State, before the court, the judge agreed with the two separate claimants that lawful procedures were not followed before their sack.

In setting aside the dismissal of the claimant, the judge held that the employment of the claimant is one with statutory flavour and that the first defendant did not comply with the procedure enshrined in the Public Service Rules, Vol. 1, Section 4 030402 (L) of January 2013 in dismissing claimant from its employment.

He subsequently ordered reinstating the claimants and held that “an order of reinstatement becomes inevitable in a matter and circumstances as the present case. Thus the claimant is hereby reinstated as Clerical Officer GL 04 to the pensionable establishment of the Board of Internal Revenue without any loss of employment rights, including promotion.”

Peters then made another order directing the defendants to pay the claimant all his arrears of salaries plus allowances from February 2016 when this suit was filed to date as if he was never dismissed.

He made a similar order reinstating Dr. Odebowale to his position of Lecturer 1, after setting aside all steps taken by the university leading to his dismissal as well as the sacked letter dated December 6, 2016, from the registrar of UI.

The judge further frowned at the institution’s conduct for going ahead to sack the lecturer when the case was already in court.

Meanwhile, the judge urged the university to pay attention to the plagiarism alleged to be condoned by the university.

“Plagiarism is the worst crime that could be committed against an academic. It is the theft of another’s intellect, the theft of the contribution of another to academic and scholarship. That negative trend must be checked quickly and decisively; otherwise, the image of the 1st defendant may be permanently dented forever,” the judge asserted.