Reprieve has come the way of a female civil servant who was dismissed from the federal civil service four years ago as a court has ordered the Federal Government to immediately reinstate her and pay all salaries and other allowances accrued to her during the dismissal.
Justice Rakiya Haastrup of the Abuja Division of the National Industrial Court on Tuesday declared the dismissal of Mrs Joy Ndubuisi by the Federal Civil Service Commission as unlawful, null and void and of no effect, saying it was carried out in breach of the rules of fair hearing and the Public Service Rules.
The court ordered the Federal Civil Service Commission to immediately reinstate Mrs Ndubuisi and post her to any ministry of choice, with payment of all salaries and entitlements accruable to her grade level from July 2022 till date.
According to available court documents, Mrs Ndubuisi submitted that she was first offered a temporary appointment as an Administrative Officer I by the commission in February 2015 before her appointment was confirmed as permanent and pensionable in October 2020.
She stated further that after participating in a verification exercise in 2021, she was served with a letter in July 2022 directing her to hand over all government property in her possession after the allegation that her appointment was found to be fake following a service-wide verification exercise.
She told the court that she was never issued a query, invited to explain herself or afforded an opportunity to respond to the allegation before the Civil Service Commission stopped her salary and relieved her of her duties.
Her counsel told the court that the Federal Civil Service Commission violated the Public Service Rules and Mrs Ndubuisi’s constitutional right to fair hearing by declaring her appointment fake and relieving her of her duties without first issuing a query or giving her an opportunity to respond to the allegation.
The counsel argued further that his client’s appointment was made pursuant to the constitution and the Public Service Rules, making it an employment clothed with statutory flavour, and urged the court to resolve the issues in favour of Mrs Ndubuisi and grant all reliefs sought in the interest of justice, equity and good conscience.
However, despite being served with the originating processes and hearing notices, the Federal Civil Service Commission neither entered appearance nor filed any defence throughout the proceedings.
Delivering judgment, Justice Haastrup held that where dismissal is predicated on misconduct, the employer must strictly comply with the rules of fair hearing and with the applicable Public Service Rules before carrying out the dismissal.
The judge found that the documents tendered together by Mrs Ndubuisi’s unchallenged evidence established that she was validly employed by the commission.
Justice Haastrup held that where dismissal is predicated on misconduct, the employer must strictly comply with the rules of fair hearing and with the applicable Public Service Rules before carrying out the dismissal, as there is no evidence before the court that Ndubuisi was issued a query or given any opportunity to respond to the allegation before the decision of dismissal was taken.
The judge held that the dismissal was carried out in breach of the Public Service Rules, the principles of natural justice and the constitutional guarantee of fair hearing, and accordingly declared the dismissal unlawful, null and void.
