VC of UNIABUJA summoned by court regarding governing council dispute

A Federal High Court judge in Abuja, Justice Inyang Ekwo, has issued an order for Prof. Rasheed Na’Allah, the Vice Chancellor of the University of Abuja, to appear in court on June 13. This summons is to provide reasons why the planned inauguration of the newly elected Governing Council members of the university should not proceed.

The plaintiffs in this case are Prof. Saint Gbilekaa, Prof. Edmund Nwanna, Prof. Sunday Ejaro, Prof. Kasim Umar, Prof. Wesley Nafarnda, and Dr. Uju Patrick. They filed a motion ex-parte, marked as FHC/ABJ/CS/683/2024, against the VC, the President, the Attorney-General of the Federation, and the National Universities Commission as the first to fourth defendants respectively.

These senior lecturers, through their counsel Maxwell Opara, requested seven reliefs in the motion ex-parte filed on June 5.

One of their requests was for an interim injunction instructing all parties to maintain the current state of affairs until a decision is made on the formal motion.

They also asked for an interim injunction to prevent the VC and others from initiating the inauguration of the newly elected internal council members of the university until a decision is reached on the formal motion.

Additionally, they sought an interim injunction to stop the second to fourth defendants from recognizing or engaging with anyone purportedly elected as Internal Council Members of the university’s Governing Council by Na’Allah until the formal matter is resolved.

The plaintiffs further requested an interim injunction to prevent any individual or group elected as members of Internal Governing Council by the VC on May 28 from acting as council members until the formal motion is resolved.

They urged the court to issue an interim order prohibiting Na’Allah from establishing any administrative panel or disciplinary committee to take action against the six of them involved in the lawsuit, as it could prejudice the court’s authority.

In citing six reasons supporting the motion, Opara stated that the case was properly filed on May 22, and all relevant documents were served to the VC.

Despite the ongoing lawsuit, the VC proceeded with the election of the new Governing Council on May 28, 2024.

The plaintiffs expressed concern that the inauguration of the Council of Federal Universities could occur soon, potentially undermining the case at hand.

They also claimed that the VC was intimidating them for seeking legal recourse.

Following the judge’s order, the plaintiffs were instructed to notify the defendants of the motion ex-parte within three days.

“Defendants are to present reasons on the next hearing date as to why the plaintiffs’ requests in the motion ex-parte should not be granted.”

Justice Ekwo then scheduled the next court session for June 13 for the defendants to present their case.