Hon. Justice Rakiya Haastrup of the Abuja Judicial Division of the National Industrial Court has nullified the purported dismissal of Mohammed Mustapha and Fehintola Salisu, ordered the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) to reinstate them into the service as associate directors with payment of salaries, allowances, and all entitlements from June 2021 till date.
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Justice Haastrup held that the process leading to the dismissal of Mohammed Mustapha and Fehintola Salisu was done in breach of due process and a violation of the rule of law.
From facts, the claimants- Mohammed Mustapha and Fehintola Salisu had submitted that their dismissal was done in contravention of the law, and due process; urged the court to grant the reliefs sought.
In defense, the NFIU maintained that the dismissal of Mr. Mustapha and Ms. Salisu was done in line with the recommendation by the Appointments, Promotions, and Discipline Committee (APDC) constituted by the executive director of the agency to investigate the various allegations levelled against them, urged the court to dismiss the suit for being allegedly academic and hypothetical, premature and for failure to disclose reasonable cause of action against them.
In its considered judgment, the presiding judge, Justice Rakiya Haastrup held that the disciplinary committee found Mohammed Mustapha and Fehintola Salisu guilty of negligence, dereliction of duty, and insubordination “different” from the allegations leveled against them in the queries issued to them.
The court ruled that the punishment of dismissal meted out to Mohammed Mustapha and Fehintola Salisu was not commensurate with the allegations they were said to be guilty of; that such offences fall under conducts amounting to misconduct and not serious or gross misconduct as put by the defendants.
Justice Haastrup also held that since NFIU did not have any condition of service in existence, the provision of the Public Service Rules (PSR) is applicable in the discipline of Mohammed Mustapha and Fehintola Salisu, and under the PSR, it is the Federal Civil Service Commission (FCSC) that could take a disciplinary action against them, while the executive director of the agency only had the power to initiate the process.
Justice Haastrup described the purported dismissal as arbitrary and unlawful.
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