44 Sacked UNILORIN Lecturers Win At S/Court

The Supreme Court has ordered the reinstatement of the remaining 44 out of the 49 sacked lecturers of the University of Ilorin.

In a judgement delivered Friday by John Fabiyi, the apex court directed that the 44 lecturers be paid their full salaries and allowances with effect from when they were removed.

The panel of the court which was led by Justice Olufumilayo Adekeye stated that plaintiffs must be paid their full entitlements as the years they spent as sacked workers are to be counted as part of their period in active service.

This judgement upturns the earlier ruling of the Court of Appeal which upheld the sacking of the lecturers.

According to the apex court, the Court of Appeal failed to adhere to the doctrine of stare decisions which makes it mandatory for a lower court to abide by a point of law which has been decided and settled by a superior court.

On the three of the sacked lecturers who died while the case lasted, the apex court said it should be understood to mean that they died in active service; hence their families would also be paid the whole accruals till the time they died.

“For the three plaintiffs who died during the protracted litigation, may their souls rest in peace. It has been written of old that it is appointed unto man once to die, but after this, judgment.”

“In their grave, they must be crying for justice, an accidental order is hereby warranted. They are deemed to have passed on while in active service, their salaries and allowances shall cease on their respective dates of death”, Fabiyi said.

It would be recalled that five out of the 49 sacked lecturers in 2001 instituted a suit against the   University.