Appeal court upholds reinstatement of Mohammed Hadis Auta, orders Yobe state to settle all entitlements
Story from, Yakubu Busari, Jos
The Court of Appeal, Jos Division, on February 6, 2024, affirmed the National Industrial Court’s decision from January 31, 2019, reinstating Mohammed Hadis Auta as Chief Registrar of the Sharia Court of Appeal, Damaturu, Yobe State.
The court ruled that his compulsory retirement by the Yobe State Judicial Service Commission in 2010 was illegal, null and void, and ordered the state to pay all his salaries and entitlements since his dismissal.
Delivering the judgment, Honourable Justice O. O. Adegbehingb affirmed the lower court’s decision, stating that the appeal against the decision was devoid of merit and that Auta was denied fair hearing.
That the circumstances leading to the compulsory retirement of Mohammed Hadis Auta on the 8th of October, 2010 by the Yobe State Judicial Service Commission was illegal, null and void and of no effect whatsoever.
The Judge also resolved all the contentious issues against Yobe State in favour of Mohammed Hadis who is a respondent in the suit.
He further ordered that his salaries and entitlements since the day of dismissal or compulsory suspension from office be paid.
The Appellate Court also affirmed the orders of the trial court delivered by Honourable Justice Kenneth I. Amadi, J (as he then was) as per the judgment orders thus:
“In sum, I make the following orders:
The compulsory retirement of the claimant as conveyed by the notice of compulsory retirement issued by the defendant to the claimant dated the 8th October, 2010 is declared null, void and hereby set aside”.
The claimant is hereby reinstated back to his employment as the Chief Registrar of Yobe State Sharia Court of Appeal.
The defendant shall pay the claimant all his salaries, emolument and entitlements as they fall due as a full staff of the defendant.
The defendant shall pay the claimant the sum of N 300,000 being the cost of this suit, Judgment is entered accordingly”.
Mohammed Hadis Auta was on the 1st September, 1992 appointed as a magistrate grade 1, by the Yobe State Judicial Service Commission. On the 29th of October, 2010 Commission appointed him as the substantive Chief Registrar of the Sharia Court of Appeal.
Then on June, 10 2010, the Commission designated his appointment to acting Chief Registrar and he should henceforth be addressed as Acting Chief Registrar Shari Court of Appeal, Damaturu. Dissatisfied with the step taken by the Commission; he petition the Commission against the designation of his appointment to acting capacity, only for the Commission on the receipt of the petition to redeploy him to the Sharia Courts Division as Acting Director on the 8th of July, 2010.
As if that was not enough, on the 5th August, 2010 the Commission at its 92nd General Meeting set up a Panel to verify a document with no signature, no date, no name, no letter and official stamp, tag: Fund Disbursement of the Month of June 2010 Over Head Cost. The basis upon which the panel was set up was that the National Judicial Council, Abuja directed that the Chief Registrar Sharia Court Appeal, Damaturu should make a refund of the eight day salary of the late Grand Kadi who died on the 22nd June, 2010. M. H. Auta objected to the verification of the document which being unauthentic.
The panel went ahead with the verification and in the end submitted its report of the verification to the Commission as follows:
“This is how the Over Head Cost and Upkeep allowance of the Sharia Court of for the month of June, 2010 were expended as verified by the Chief Accountant Mohammed Yerima Hammayo”.
The Commission in its meeting of 7th October, 2010 upon considering the report, on its own find M. H. Auta guilty of misconduct and retired him from service. On the 18th October, 2010 he filed a suit at the High Court of Justice, Geidam Division where on the 4th of October, 2013, Honourable Justice A. Garba declared his retirement illegal, null and void. On the issue of jurisdiction the Commission appealed the decision to the Court of Appeal, Jos.
On the 7th of June, 2015 the decision was set aside on the basis that evidence in the case was taken in April, 2011 after the amendment of the Constitution took effect.
On the July, 17 2015, M. H. Auta, filed a fresh case at the National Industrial Court Nigeria, Jos the requisite court with jurisdiction and which suit culminated to the judgment in his favour of the 31st January, 2019.
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As can be seen, even as it is an employer-employee where time is of essence; this case has taken thirteen years four months to determine and alone the way he has on the 17th of August, 2022 attended the mandatory age of retirement at 60.
Even at that he is yet till not place on any pension was support to take effect as from September, 2022.
To M. H. Auta, the situation he finds himself in is not dissimilar to that of Honourable Justice Yaya Junaidu 1984, Mrs Young of the then Cross River State High Court of Justice, Bode Thomas of the Court of Appeal and as for Honourable Justice AYO Isa Salami, JCA, (Retired) on the occasion of Valecdictory Session in his honour on the 30th October, 2013 he stated thus:
“The last three years of my career were dogged by travails, which are not dissimilar to the fate of Joseph in the Book of Genesis in the Bible, as his brothers conspired to destroy him by throwing him into a well and selling him into slavery. My learned brothers and friends in the legal profession planned and executed this evil on me”.
The NJC, created by the Constitution to protect me, nay any judicial officer, was in the vanguard of my travail. The NJC failed in its duties and thereby surrendered its functions to the executive arm of government, thus ingratiating itself to the executive,
This to my mind, is superfluous, as all powers needed by the NJC is enshrined in the Constitution.”
Even as the commission in case mentioned the NJC as the body the directed for the refund of the sum of eight day salary of the late Grand Kadi, the NJC did not take action on my petition before it. The question is how come the NJC ask for a refund of salary of a judicial officer from a Chief Registrar. It till maintain that this similar to “a story told by some….full of sound and fury signifying nothing”.
I, most with profound gratitude and great humility appreciate my lords for standing firm for justice in the culture of impunity. Yes of course our court of laws and justice remains the only hope of the common man.
He contended that contrary to legal provisions, no Special Management Staff of the Disciplinary Committee (SMSDC) was established to probe the allegations against him, emphasizing a lack of fair hearing in the process.
