[Alleged Error] Industrial Court Dismisses Suit Against Nnamdi Azikiwe University
The Presiding Judge, Awka Judicial Division of the National Industrial Court, Hon. Justice John Targema has dismissed the case filed by one Ekemezie against Nnamdi Azikiwe University and 7 others for being frivolous and bereft of any modicum of value.
The Court ordered Ekemezie to pay Nnamdi Azikiwe University and 7 others the sum of 50,000 (Fifty Thousand Naira) as general damages within 30 days.
From facts, the claimant, Ekemezie, had asked the Court to rescind the judgment delivered on Thursday, October 19th, 2023, by dismissing the referenced suit for being made in error and urging the court to grant the reliefs sought in the new case.
Ekemezie alleged that Nnamdi Azikiwe University did not follow due process which led to his dismissal; and averred that the Joint Council/Senate Disciplinary Committee (JC/SDC) was unilaterally constituted by the Vice Chancellor which is ultra vires his powers; and further that the irregular Committee violated the Nnamdi Azikiwe University’s Senior Staff Conditions of Service which the University did not deny or contradict in its evidence.
In defence, the defendants- Nnamdi Azikiwe University and 7 others maintained that the Court has become functus officio as far as the referenced case is concerned.
The Nnamdi Azikiwe University and 7 others contended that even though the Rules of the Court permit the Court to set aside a default judgment or to rescind its well-considered decision in a contested case as in the instant case; the law however, abhors the Court from sitting on Appeal against its own decision.
The University posited that the Court lacks the jurisdiction to rescind its decision; that the Court lacks the jurisdiction to sit on appeal against its own decision, and prayed the Court to dismiss the Ekemizie’s Application for lacking in merit and for want of jurisdiction.
In a well-considered judgment, the Presiding Judge, Justice John Targema reiterated that the Court has the power to correct errors or slips contained in the judgment to give the judgment judicial efficacy.
However, the Court ruled that the entirety of Ekemezie’s Application was misconceived and did not serve any purpose and was tantamount to abuse of the Court process.
