The National Industrial Court in Abuja has ordered the reinstatement of Colonel Mohammed Auwal Suleiman, who the court held was illegally retired by the Nigerian Army in 2016.
The Army had in June, 2016 announced the compulsory retirement of 38 officers on different ranks on the grounds of alleged professional misconduct during the 2015 general elections, as well as involvement in the $2.1 billion arms procurement scandal.
The purge affected nine Major Generals, ten Brigadier-Generals, seven Colonels, eleven Lieutenant Colonels and one Major.
Several of the affected officers, including Colonel Suleiman, had subsequently instituted suits individually against the Nigerian Army; the Nigerian Army Council; the Chief of Army Staff; Armed Forces Council; Chief of Defence Staff; and the Attorney General of the Federation.
Others listed as defendants are: Brig. Gen. Mansur Dan-Ali (rtd); Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai and Maj. Gen. Mohammed Garuba.
Four other officers, including Maj. Gen. Ijeoma Nwokoro, Colonel Danladi, Lt. Col. Abdulfatai Mohammed and Lt. Col. Thomas Arigbe, have gotten judgments in their favour even as the Army is yet to give effects to the court orders.
Delivering judgement in Col. Suleiman’s suit on Wednesday, the judge, Justice Sanusi Kado held that the purported retirement effected through a letter of June 9, 2016 was unlawful, illegal, unconstitutional and of no effect whatsoever.
Justice Kado rejected the claim that Suleiman was compulsorily retired from the Army on account of overstay of 18 years in the service, adding that there was no evidence to the falsehood adduced to justify the unlawful act of the Army.
The judge, in the judgement that lasted over an hour, took swipe at the Army for breaching the doctrine of fair-hearing in the case of Suleiman, adding that it was more surprising that the complainant was compulsorily retired without being court-martial, charged with any known offence, issued with query or indicted before the purported retirement was carried out.
Justice Kado rejected the evidence giving by the only witness of the Army, David Igodalo, to the effect that the Colonel was compulsorily retired because he overstayed beyond the eighteen years he ought to have stayed in the Army and thus allegedly breach Section 30 of the Nigerian Army Council Act.
The judge noted that the witness lacked knowledge of the case of the complainant and was not a reliable witness because throughout his evidence he never drew the attention of the court to the condition of service that stipulated that the Colonel was to serve only 18 years.
Rather, Justice Kado held that from the words of the letter of appointment issued to the colonel upon his commissioning as an Army Officer in 1995, the appointment has flavour of statutory and guided by the condition of service in the Nigerian Army adding that anything to the contrary as in the reason adduced for the unlawful retirement is a total and clear breach of the law.
Justice Kado further held that the claim of the colonel that he had served for 25 years and nine month diligently and received accolades nationally and internationally was not disputed by the Nigerian Army and therefore there was no lawful reason to justify the allegation of serious offence in the purported letter of compulsory retirement
The court agreed with counsel to the complainant, Olayinka Adedeji, that the purported compulsory retirement was done in bad faith and ought not to be allowed to stand in the face of the law.
Consequently, Justice Kado declared the purported retirement and the letter as null and void and of no effect whatsoever.
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