Akwa Ibom State Civil Service Commission & Ors V. Aniekan Wilson Akpan (2013)

LawGlobal-Hub Lead Judgment Report – COURT OF APPEAL

MOHAMMED LAWAL GARBA, J.C.A. (Delivering the Leading Judgment)

By a writ of summons dated and filed on the 3/7/2001 in the Registry of the High Court of Akwa Ibom State, at Eket, the Respondent had sued the Appellants and claimed as follows:-

“The Plaintiff claims against the Defendants jointly and severally as follows:-

a) A declaration that the purported dismissal of the plaintiff from the 4th Defendant’s service vide letter No. AKC/5/0076/S.S/Vol.1/34 signed by Francis U. Idiong on behalf of the Chairman of the 1st Defendant and dated 27th February, 2001 is incompetent, unlawful, null and void and a total breach of the principles of natural justice and the Civil Service Rules.

b) Reinstatement and promotion of the plaintiff as the Executive Officer (Accounts) with his entitlements from 1/3/2001 till judgment.

c) N500,000.00 being special and general damages for unlawful dismissal from services and wounded pride.”

After pleadings were settled by the parties, the case proceeded to trial at the end of which the High Court entered judgment in favour of the Respondent on the 10/8/2009 even though it found that the case was commenced outside the period of three (3) months after the cause of action arose contrary to the provisions of Section 1(1) of the Public Officers Protection Law of Akwa Ibom State, 2000.

The High Court had held that the Appellants were not entitled to the protection of that law on the ground that “what the defendants did was not within the confines of the law and constitution to entitle them to protection. They were not discharging or executing their duties/officers (sic) when they passed the judgment in Exhibit 5.” See page 173, lines 15-19 of the record of appeal.

Being aggrieved by the decision of the High Court, the Appellants brought this appeal against it vide a notice of appeal dated the 21/6/2010 but filed with the leave of the court granted on 9/6/2011, on the 21/6/2011. In line with the Rules of the court, briefs of argument were filed by the learned counsel for the parties as follows. The Appellants’ brief filed on the 10/4/12 and the Respondent’s brief filed on 16/8/12 were both deemed properly filed on the 17/1/13.

At the oral hearing of the appeal on the 4/11/2013, the learned counsel for the parties adopted the briefs as their respective submissions in support of their positions in the appeal and urged the court to uphold same.

From the two (2) grounds contained on the notice of appeal, the learned counsel for the Appellants has raised the following issues for determination in the appeal.

“3.01 Whether the learned trial judge erred in law when he assumed jurisdiction in this matter and entertained same after he had agreed that the matter was brought about 5 (five) months after the issue of Exh. ‘5’ which conveyed the alleged notice of dismissal (Ground 1).

3.02 Whether the learned trial judge was right to have considered the merit of the case when he had no jurisdiction to do so (Ground 2).

For the Respondent, the issues for decision by the court, as set out in the Respondent’s brief are: