The Presiding Judge, Benin Judicial Division of the National Industrial Court, Hon. Justice Adunola Adewemimo has declared the Edo State Governor directive to the State Hospitals Management to dismiss Mrs. Nneka Jacob from the service as unlawful, null, void and of no effect.

The Court ordered Edo State Governor to reinstate Mrs. Nneka to her position as Chief Pharmacy Technician in the service of Edo State Hospitals Management without any loss of her seniority or progression, entitlements or any remunerations.

Justice Adewemimo further ordered the Edo State Hospitals Management and the Governor to pay Mrs. Nneka Jacob a sum of N4,717,348.75K (Four million, Seven Hundred and Seventeen Thousand, Three hundred and Forty-Eight Naira, Seventy-Five Kobo) as her accumulated salaries for the period of February 2021 till March 2023 within 60 days, and N100,000.00 cost of action.

Justice Adewemimo held that the inclusion of an approval and directive of the Governor before the decision of the Edo State Hospitals Management was taken to dismiss Nnena as disclosed in the dismissal letter is unsupported by the statutes guiding her employment.

From facts, the claimant- Mrs. Nneka Jacob had submitted that she was dismissed from service on the 10th of February, 2021 on the allegation of granting an unauthorised interview to a Civil Society Organisation under the directive of her immediate boss.

She submitted that her purported dismissal by Edo State Hospitals Management on the directive or approval of the Governor of the State is wrongful, unlawful, ultra vires the powers of the State Governor and therefore null, void and of no effect.

In defense, the defendants- Edo State Hospitals Management and the Governor of Edo State submitted that Nneka’s failure to exhaust all avenues provided in the Civil Service Rules before the institution of the case is a breach of the condition precedent that would have conferred jurisdiction on this court to entertain this case.

Chief State Counsel, E. E. Akhimie, Esq. submitted that Nneka’s right or duty to obey and carry out the instruction or directive of her immediate boss is subject only to lawful instruction as provided for by the Edo State Civil Service Rules.

The learned counsel contended that Edo State Governor did not play any role in the dismissal of Nneka from the service, and argued that reference to Governor in the dismissal letter is a mere administrative procedure adopted to ensure that an officer is not unjustly dismissed from service simply because his or her employer did not like his face.

In opposition, Nneka’s counsel, D. T. Achi, Esq. argued that his client is entitled to approach the Court to seek justice with respect to her employment which has been put in jeopardy by the Defendants and cannot be circumscribed or ousted by any rule or statute to the contrary, and urged the court to grant the reliefs sought.

Delivering judgement after a thorough evaluation of the submission of both parties, the Presiding Judge, Justice Adunola Adewemimo held that there is nowhere in the Edo State Civil Service Rules where it is stipulated that, the approval or directive of the Governor must be sought before an officer of the rank of Mrs. Nneka can be dismissed by the Edo State Hospitals Management.

The Court ruled that the defendants did not lead any evidence, or place the resolution of the 322nd Meeting of the Edo State Hospitals Management, in proof of their assertion that it was the board that took the decision to dismiss Nnena, and also did not place any documentary evidence before the court to attest to the fact that the approval of the Governor was a mere administrative procedure.

Justice Adewemimo stated that the content of the dismissal letter issued to Nneka clearly connotes that Edo State Hospitals Management acted under the directive of the Governor, as the panel report on the allegation against Nneka never recommended her dismissal, but a transfer and reduction in rank.