Court Summons UniAbuja VC Over Governing Council Crisis

• Federal High Court in Abuja orders University of Abuja’s VC to explain why the council members’ inauguration shouldn’t be halted
• Plaintiffs seek interim injunctions to maintain status quo, preventing the inauguration of new council members until court decision

A Federal High Court in Abuja ordered the Vice-Chancellor (VC) of the University of Abuja, Prof. Rasheed Na’Allah, to appear before it on June 13. He must explain why the planned inauguration of the newly elected Internal Governing Council Members of the institution should not be halted.

Justice Inyang Ekwo issued the order shortly after the plaintiffs’ counsel, Maxwell Opara, presented an ex-parte motion. According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the plaintiffs—Prof. Saint Gbilekaa, Prof. Edmund Nwanna, Prof. Sunday Ejaro, Prof. Kasim Umar, Prof. Wesley Nafarnda, and Dr. Uju Patrick—filed the motion ex-parte marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/683/2024.

These six senior lecturers, dissatisfied with the election, sued the VC, the President of Nigeria, the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), and the National Universities Commission (NUC) as the first to fourth defendants, respectively. Through their lawyer, Opara, the plaintiffs sought seven reliefs in the motion dated and filed on June 5. These included an order of interim injunction directing all parties to maintain the status quo pending the determination of the motion on notice.

Additionally, they requested an interim injunction to prevent the VC and others from inaugurating the newly elected internal council members of the university until the motion on notice is resolved. They also sought to restrain the 2nd to 4th defendants from recognizing or dealing with any individuals elected as Internal Council Members by Na’Allah pending the outcome of the substantive suit.

The plaintiffs further requested an interim injunction to stop newly elected members from acting as council members and an order preventing Na’Allah from forming any administrative panel or disciplinary committee that might affect them during the court proceedings.

They justified their motion on six grounds, noting that the case was filed on May 22, and all processes were duly served on Na’Allah by the bailiff. Despite the ongoing lawsuit, Na’Allah conducted the election on May 28, 2024. They argued that inaugurating the new council members could jeopardize the case and accused Na’Allah of intimidating them to seek legal recourse.

Justice Ekwo instructed the plaintiffs to notify the defendants of the ex-parte motion within three days and ordered the defendants to show cause on June 13 as to why the plaintiffs’ requests should not be granted. The judge then adjourned the matter until June 13 for the defendants to respond.