A lecturer, Inih Ebong, unjustly sacked by the University of Uyo (Uniuyo) over 22 years ago, has won a final victory against the university at the Court of Appeal, Calabar, Cross River State.

The appellate court, on Tuesday, dismissed an appeal filed by the University of Uyo for a stay of the execution of a 2020 judgement of the National Industrial Court of Nigeria, which ordered the university to reinstate Mr Ebong and pay him all his entitlements and damages.

“It’s all over. It’s all over. Everything is over,” said Mr Ebong’s lawyer, Nse William, who confirmed the development to PREMIUM TIMES Tuesday afternoon.

“We give glory to God,” he added.

“You know, wherever there’s a wrong, there’s always a remedy,” Mr William said, adding that he was happy that the lecturer was alive to witness the victory.

‘It has been so long’

An elated Mr Ebong spoke with our reporter on Tuesday about his legal victory.

“I feel very happy,” he said.

“The road is now as clear as the apian way for me to enforce that judgment (of the industrial court). Whether the vice-chancellor likes it or not, he must pay that money. It is his karma.”

The lecturer thanked Nigerians who stood by him throughout his travail.

He thanked the Nigerian billionaire Femi Otedola, who sponsored his medical treatment, and a human rights lawyer, Inibehe Effiong, for travelling from Lagos to Uyo to visit him and for speaking out against the injustice meted out to him.

Mr Ebong’s wife, Uduak, expressed her happiness about the court victory.

“It has been so long,” she said.

“The whole thing started when I gave birth to my first daughter. All my three children were born into the struggle. Today, my first daughter is 21 years old and is in the university.

“Our kids have been our great supporters.”

Uduak narrated how, on Sunday, they were thinking about where to get money for the lawyer’s transport fare to Calabar for the Appeal Court judgment. Then, out of the blue, Mr Ebong’s former schoolmate at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, credited her husband’s account with N20,000.

“We have been so blessed to receive support from kind Nigerians,” she said.

False accusations

Mr Ebong was an associate professor at the theatre arts department when Uniuyo unjustly sacked him in 2002 over a false accusation that he abandoned his duty.

The lecturer was reputed for his resistance to and criticism of maladministration, mismanagement and corruption in the university.

Akpan Ekpo, a recently retired professor of economics, was the vice-chancellor of the university when authorities moved unjustly against the lecturer. A certain Peter Effiong was the registrar during the period.

PREMIUM TIMES, in October, published an investigative report on how Uniuyo ruined Mr Ebong’s career with unproven sexual assault allegations.

The 73-year-old lecturer had been diagnosed with cardiac failure in October 2020 and was dying before Mr Otedola, stepped in to take care of his medical treatment, following a PREMIUM TIMES report.

Being out of a job for several years, Mr Ebong could hardly feed himself and his family, let alone take care of his medical treatment.

Shortly after his sacking in 2002, Uniuyo published a disclaimer on Mr Ebong in Punch newspaper, apparently to get other potential employers to avoid him.

Industrial court judgment

Since 2002, when his appointment was terminated, Mr Ebong has won several court cases against the University of Uyo.

The outstanding victory was the January 2020 judgment of the National Industrial Court of Nigeria, which ordered the university to reinstate the lecturer and pay him compensation.

“The stoppage of the Claimant’s salary, the indefinite suspension of him from duties, and the purported termination of his appointment by the Defendants without due process were malicious, ultra vires, and unlawful, and therefore null, void and of no effect whatsoever,” Justice M. A. Namtari declared in his judgment in the case instituted by Mr Ebong in 2017.

The court ordered Uniuyo to withdraw the termination letter, reinstate Mr Ebong, and pay all his salaries, allowances, and entitlements that would have accrued to him since 1 August 2001, when his salary was stopped, and from 28 March 2002, when his appointment was wrongfully and unlawfully terminated.

The court also ordered the university to pay Mr Ebong the equivalent of his full annual salaries and allowances for the 2001/2002, 2007/2008, and 2014/2015 academic years he should have gone on sabbatical leave in accordance with the terms and conditions of his employment if his appointment had not been unlawfully suspended and later terminated.

The university, in addition, was ordered to pay Mr Ebong N10 million as damages.

Uniuyo had filed three separate applications at the Court of Appeal against Mr Ebong’s victory at the industrial court. The appellate court struck out two of them, remaining the last one, which the court has dismissed.

Since all cases from the Industrial Court end at the Court of Appeal, the management of the University of Uyo is now expected to implement the judgement of the Industrial Court.

When PREMIUM TIMES contacted him on Tuesday, Fidelis Iteshi, Uniuyo’s lawyer, declined comment on the matter.

“I can’t say anything until I get a copy of the judgment,” he said.

The Senate has suspended action on the Tax Reforms Bills.

The Senate further instructed its Committee on Finance to stay action on the public hearing pending the time the agitation in the public space was addressed.

It further constituted a special committee to meet with the executive arm and work with the Federal Government to resolve the issues surrounding the Tax Reform Bills.

This was made known by the Deputy Senate President, Jibrin Barau, who presided during plenary on Wednesday.

There has been controversy over the Tax Reform Bills since its introduction to the National Assembly.

The bills are Tax Reform Bills comprising the Joint Revenue Board of Nigeria (Establishment) Bill, 2024; Nigeria Revenue Service (Establishment) Bill, 2024; Nigeria Revenue Service (Establishment) Bill, 2024 and Nigeria Tax Bill, 2024.

The northern Governors rejected the bills outright, describing them as anti-democracy.

Following this, the National Economic Council, Nigeria’s highest economic advisory body, requested that the tax reforms bill be withdrawn from the NASS for more consultations.

Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, announced the council’s position after its 144th meeting chaired by Vice President Kashim Shettima at the State House, Abuja.

Makinde said council members agreed that the bill be withdrawn as some sections of the country are uncomfortable with some of its sections. He said this would allow for consensus building and understanding.

Following the various controversies that greeted the bills, the Senate on Wednesday invited the president’s Economic team led by the Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, Taiwo Oyedele, alongside the Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Tax, Zacchaeus Adedeji, Director General of the Budget Office, Tanimu Yakubu, into plenary to explain the Tax Reform bills in detail to lawmakers.

After the interaction with the President’s economic team, the Senate passed the bill for a second reading and transmitted it to the Senate Committee on Finance.

After the passage of the bill, the Borno State Governor, Prof Babagana Zulum, accused Oyedele’s team of rushing the enactment of the tax reforms, alleging that the bills are accompanied by misconceptions that require deeper consultations.

“On this tax issue, there are a lot of misconceptions. We felt that the VAT provision in the tax law, based on the calculations we did, would only benefit Lagos and Rivers States. We did our research and concluded that we would lose,” Zulum said.

“Why are we in a rush? We advised the Federal Government to take a pause and expunge some of the clauses that are inimical to Northern Nigeria. What we are saying is, give more time, let us do a deeper consultation to understand the nitty-gritty of this tax regime before passing it into law,” Zulum added during an interview on Channels Television.

Amidst the controversy, Senator Shehu Buba (APC, Bauchi South), in an interview with the British Broadcasting Service Hausa Service said northern Senators agreed to recall the Tax Reforms Bills.

He said, “These bills are complex and require thorough review by tax policy experts.”

He claimed that northern lawmakers strongly oppose the proposed “derivation” formula in the value-added tax distribution system, arguing that northern states would be unfairly impacted.

Also on Tuesday, the President instructed the judiciary to liaise with the legislative arm of government.

Speaking on the controversies, the Deputy Senate President noted that the delegation would meet on Thursday at the National Assembly to resolve all the issues that had caused the uproar.

Barau said, “On the tax reform bills currently before us, we acknowledge that the Senate remains the highest legislative assembly in this country.

“The Senate comprises men and women of wisdom and experience, entrusted to legislate for the peace, stability, and development of the nation.

“The Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, like similar bodies globally, serves as a stabilising force in times of difficulty or disagreement. Through dialogue and consensus, the Senate has consistently provided solutions to national challenges since 1999.”

He added, “In this regard, we have decided to set aside politics, ethnicity, and regionalism to work together on resolving the issues surrounding the tax reform bills.

“In collaboration with the Executive Arm of Government, we agreed to establish a forum to identify and address contentious areas to ensure national unity and progress.

“Before the introduction of these bills, we faced numerous challenges, including insecurity and economic issues.

“The President has been working to address these problems, and we are committed to supporting these efforts while tackling global economic challenges. We also agreed that no other issues should aggravate the country’s current difficulties.”

On Tuesday, following the controversy emanating from the bills, President Tinubu directed the Ministry of Justice to work closely with the National Assembly to address “grey areas” concerning the bill with the legislature.

The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, stated this in a statement titled ‘President Tinubu committed to accountability on tax bills, directs Ministry of Justice to work with NASS on concerns.’

Mohammed said, “In line with the established legislative procedure, the Federal Government welcomes meaningful inputs that can address whatever grey areas there may be in the bill.

“In this vein, President Tinubu has already directed the Federal Ministry of Justice and relevant officials who worked on the drafts to work closely with the National Assembly to ensure that all genuine concerns have been addressed before the bills are passed.”

Barau confirmed that the Senate committee would meet with the Attorney-General of the Federation on Thursday (today).

“It has been mutually decided between the Executive and the Senate to engage the Judiciary to sort out these matters.

“The Attorney-General of the Federation will be involved in discussions to identify and resolve areas of disagreement for the nation’s benefit.

“Tomorrow (today), the committee established by the Senate, along with its leadership, will meet with the Attorney-General to address these issues.”

Barau added, “Consequently, the Senate Committee on Finance has been directed to pause further actions on public hearings and other matters related to the tax reform bills until the issues are resolved.”

However, there are indications that the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), may not be present to attend the meeting on the tax reform bill slated for today.

A senior official at the Ministry of Justice confirmed to our correspondent that the AGF was out of the country and billed to return today.

The source said, “The AGF is not in the country at the moment but he will return tomorrow (today).”

In his response, chairman of the Senate’s special committee, Abba Moro, said they might not meet with the AGF, but added that the lawmakers would definitely hold a meeting amongst themselves.

He said, “Since the AGF is out of the country as you said, and as contemplated by the senate, it might not hold.

“However, the committee will certainly meet to chart the way forward. We will not like to keep Nigeria and Nigerians waiting for too long for answers to their questions.”

It was, however, learnt that the AGF’s team might meet with the senators to begin talks on how to resolve the tax bills concern.

The committee is constituted by the leadership of the Senate, as well as other members –Adamu Ailero (PDP, Kebbi Central), Orji Kalu (APC, Abia North), Seriake Dickson (PDP, Bayelsa  West) Titus Zam (Benue South), Abdullahi Yahaya (Kebbi), Adeola Olamilekan (APC, Ogun West), Sani Musa (APC, Niger East) and Adetokunbo Abiru (APC, Lagos East).

Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, Taiwo Oyedele, said the need to pass the Tax Reforms Bills was “urgent” because of the struggles of most Nigerians.

Oyedele made this statement during an Arise News interview monitored by our correspondent on Wednesday, in response to comments made by Borno State Governor, Prof Babagana Zulum, on the proposed bills.

He also stated that the proposed 60 per cent derivation was the only way to promote more equity in the sharing of VAT while promoting economic activities across Nigeria.

Responding to Governor Zulum’s comments that the bills were rushed, Oyedele stated that everyone, including the governor, “needs to acknowledge that we are at a stage where the majority of our people are struggling and are in multi-dimensional poverty.”

“Our small businesses are dealing with over 60 official levies, taxes and over 200 unofficial ones. We are struggling to have people just feed because inflation is escalating.

“We have people who don’t have decent jobs. That’s why the poverty rate is high, even though officially they say the unemployment rate is low. We are dealing with all these issues.

“If you want to provide relief for your people, you should do it quickly because it’s urgent. It’s an emergency. The way we should respond to these issues should be similar to how the world responded to COVID-19.”

“There were countries where laws were passed within two days because it was an emergency. We are not even doing it in two days. We have been working on this for over a year,” he said.

Oyedele explained that his team had a session with the governors around May, sharing drafts with them.

“We had engagement with the governors themselves but you would imagine that if you manage to get airtime with them, they are unlikely to give you one hour or two. There was a particular meeting we had for 15 minutes.

“And I said jokingly to the governors that I don’t expect your excellency to read all these details because we have also shared them with your technical people.

“But we have done all of that. The bills are now in the National Assembly. As we speak, the bills have been there for over a month already. So, I don’t think that’s rushing it,” he said.

He added that there is no rush, as the bills are currently before the National Assembly and have remained under scrutiny for one month.

However, he emphasised that stakeholders should work to finalise the bills quickly so that relief could be provided for Nigerians.

“We are always happy to engage more, but we think that what is happening now is healthy and good for our development because there is more attention now to this issue, which means an opportunity to further engage.

“Because of the inequity that we are going to correct, we hadn’t envisaged that this was going to be a pushback from other states. We thought the pushback would come from Lagos State and Rivers State because that was what the data we had was saying to us. It’s almost like we ended up with, the people we are fighting for are now fighting us. Probably if we knew where the pushback is from, we would have engaged more,” he added.

An Assistant Director of Finance at the Universal Basic Education Commission, Abubakar Hassan, has testified before a Kwara State High Court sitting in Ilorin that the Kwara State Government allegedly misappropriated about N5bn.

Hassan stated that the funds were intended for the execution of projects in primary and junior secondary schools between 2013 and 2015, during the administration of former governor Abdulfatah Ahmed.

Ahmed and his then Commissioner for Finance, Ademola Banu, are currently standing trial for the alleged theft and mismanagement of public funds totalling N5.78bn.

The former governor and his finance commissioner, among other things, were accused of conspiring to steal money meant for the payment of salaries of teachers working with the Kwara State Universal Basic Education Board.

However, when the duo was arraigned in October, they pleaded not guilty to the charges.

In a statement on Wednesday, the Head of Media and Publicity at the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Dele Oyewale, said at the resumed trial on Wednesday, Hassan, who is the Prosecution Witness 1,  accused the government of misappropriation.

The statement quoted Hassan as telling the court that: “The Matching Grant Funds from the Universal Basic Education Commission are meant to provide certain infrastructural facilities for both students of primary and junior secondary schools. Such facilities include the construction of buildings for primary schools, provision of laboratories for students, construction of toilets, provision of water and sanitation and cultural education.”

Stating the procedures for obtaining grants from the commission, Hassan said, “UBEC law provides that the Chairman of State Universal Basic Education Board, its Executive Secretary and the Director of Finance are signatories to Matching Grants Accounts. The Matching Grants Account is opened with any commercial bank or the Central Bank of Nigeria.”

The witness stated that the Kwara State Universal Basic Education Board prepared and submitted an action plan for 2013, which was defended and approved.

“The commission made lodgment for 2013, 2014 and 2015. Kwara State got a Matching Grant of about N2bn for 2013, N876m was released for 2014 while they got N982m in 2015, totalling about N5bn.

“Implementation of the 2013 Action Plan had already commenced, contractors were already being mobilised to work at the site, but surprisingly, during our project monitoring exercise, we discovered that the funds meant for the project (2013) had been diverted by the Kwara SUBEB. We discovered that about N2bn was diverted.”

Following this discovery, the witness said that the report of the projects monitoring committee was sent to the Kwara SUBEB, asking them to comply with the recommendations of the committee, but there was no response. Hence, the commission wrote to the banks to return the 2014 and 2015 funds paid to the State.

He said there were no activities for 2016, 2017 and 2018 due to the failure of the state to comply with its earlier recommendations about the diverted funds.

The trial judge, Justice Mahmud Abdulgafar, adjourned further hearing in the case till February 17, 2025.