Justice Maureen Esowe of the National Industrial Court of Nigeria, Lagos Division, has issued an order to reinstate Dr. Ebarefimia Udegbe.
This judicial decision on Thursday, followed a long-standing dispute that began with allegations of academic misconduct.
Udegbe is a lecturer at Lagos State University (LASU).
Background
Udegbe has been in a legal battle against LASU and its Governing Council, Ojo.
She was demoted and subsequently wrongfully terminated from her position, based on unproven accusations of altering marks and manipulating results.
Her appointment as a senior lecturer was revoked, which led to her filing a lawsuit challenging the unfair removal of her hard-earned position.
While the case was pending before Justice Abimbola Obaseki, she was issued a query in April 2017, accusing her of manipulating student results.
However, the allegations were never substantiated, as the supposed student affected did not come forward to testify.
The disciplinary committee recommended a three-month suspension, but the respondents chose to dismiss her against this advice.
Justice N.C.S Ogbuanya affirmed her dismissal on July 29, 2021, based on misleading evidence presented by the respondents.
They were supposed to recall and recompute the results but failed to comply with the court order.
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Court’s Decision
Justice Esowe’s orders were sequel to the terms of settlement by the parties in Suit No NICN/LA/435/2021 and Suit No. NICN/LA/685/2016.
The orders also by implication set aside the judgment in the suit marked NICN/LA/597/2017
Both parties reached a settlement, which includes the reinstatement of Dr. Udegbe as a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Marketing at LASU.
She is also entitled to receive her salary differential from the time of her demotion to the effective date of her dismissal, and her promotion to the position of Associate Professor will be processed with the payment of three months’ arrears in accordance with the university’s rules on outstanding accrued salaries.
Additionally, a sum of N5 million is to be paid to her as an out-of-pocket settlement for expenses incurred.