Court Quashes Indefinite Suspension of FADAMA III Coordinator, Nwakpu by Ebonyi Govt
The National Industrial Court has quashed the indefinite suspension slammed on the Ebonyi State Coordinator of the World Bank Assisted FADAMA III project, Dr Cletus Nwakpu by the state government.
Nwakpu, a Civil Servant, had overseen the implementation of the World Bank-sponsored FADAMA projects in the state.
But on the 14th of July 2020, the state government under former David Umahi suspended him indefinitely on allegations of funds misappropriation and embezzlement.
Nwakpu, as a State Coordinator, had started the implementation of the Subsidiary Credit Agreement between the World Bank and the Ebonyi State Government on Fadama III Project Implementation.
In 2019, he discovered an alleged conspiracy and forgery of documents as well as signatures by some of the project officers to defraud Ebonyi State Fadama III Project of the sum of N2,750,000 at a time the Project had the sum of only N3 million in her account.
Nwakpu had reported the matter to the police who after investigation charged all accused persons to court on criminal counts while he was also subsequently indefinitely suspended from the project.
After Mr Nwakpu’s indefinite suspension, the Ebonyi State Government on 3rd December 2020 posted a prosecutor, Ndubisi Ogbuinya of the Ebonyi State Ministry of Justice Abakaliki to Ohaozara Judicial Division.
Also, on 10th December 2020 the case against the two defendants at Abakaliki Magistrate Court II was struck out on grounds that Ogbuniaya was not in Court.
Following various announcements by former Governor Dave Umahi that the indefinite suspension on Nwakpu would be lifted but which never came, Nwakpu, who felt most unjustifiably victimized and disgraced out of office through unlawful politically motivated machinations went to court to seek redress.
As a result, on 11th January 2022, he sued the Ebonyi State Government and six others involved in the conspiracy.
These include Ebonyi State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Ebonyi State Fiscal Responsibility Commission, Mrs Ijeoma Orji-Uzo, the then secretary of the Commission, Emeka Nwode, the then chairman of the Ebonyi State EXCO investigative Committee and his Secretary Barr. Samuel Okoronkwo as well as Mr Augustine Njoku of Kudos Ventures, the input supplier at the National Industrial Court of Nigeria Abakaliki.
Dr Nwakpu prayed the court to grant him 14 reliefs including the lifting of the indefinite suspension illegally imposed on him, reinstating him to his job as Fadama Coordinator and the payment of his salary arrears from July 2020 to July 2023.
He also prayed for the payment to him by the defendants of the sum of N500 million being damages in aggravated terms for the flagrant violation of his rights as a senior and confirmed Public/Civil servant who was subjected to malicious and unlawful suspension.
He said the sack and reportage of the same in the media caused him enormous psychological and financial torture, character defamation, loss of employment opportunities, harassment and public embarrassment.
Ruling on the matter with suit no NICN/ABK/08/2022 on Friday in Enugu, the Judge, Justice Oluwakayode Arowosegbe declared that the State Government violated the rights of fair hearing of the Claimant.
He further held that the defendants failed to justify the said indefinite suspension slammed on Mr Nwakpu.
He held that there was no reasonable and justifiable reason to suspend the claimant without pay describing the indefinite suspension as constructive dismissal.
The Judge further blasted the state government for suspending the claimant for over three years on an alleged criminal offence without prosecuting him in a court of law.
He noted that the state government ought not to have suspended or sacked the claimant without pay without first charging him to court to prove the allegations against him.
Justice Arowosegbe further averred that it is not the duty of the state government or its agencies to try or pass judgment on an employee over an alleged criminal offence.
The court therefore declared the suspension of Mr Nwakpu as unlawful, null, void and of no consequence.
It declared all actions purporting to have suspended or sacked Mr Nwakpu as carried out by the State Governor, Ebonyi State Executive Council, the Ebonyi State Fiscal Responsibility Commission and the State Head of Service as null, void, unlawful and of no effect.
The Judge directed the state government to pay the Claimant all his withheld salaries to date.
He further awarded N5m in damages and compensations and N500,000 for legal expenses to the claimant.
Counsel to the Claimant, Jeremiah Ezenyi said the judgement will help to enhance Government and Labour Relations in the country.
“This judgement is a very good one in the sense that both the government and employees will know that there is a procedure for dismissal, you don’t just wake up and technically sack your employee”, he said.
