The Academic Staff Union Of Universities (ASUU) & Ors v. Dr Samuel Asuquo Ekanem (2025)

LawGlobal-Hub Lead Judgment Report – COURT OF APPEAL

NNAMDI OKWY DIMGBA, JCA (Delivering the leading judgment)

This is an appeal against the judgment of the National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN) sitting in Calabar in suit No. NICN/CA/29/2014 (lower court) delivered on 29/09/15 by E.N. Agbakoba, J. wherein the lower court partly granted the reliefs sought by the respondent against the appellants, declaring his disqualification from participation in union (ASUU) activities by the 1st and 2nd appellants vide their resolution of 16/12/2013 as wrongful, illegal, null and void, and awarding cost of N100,000.00 (One Hundred Thousand Naira) against the appellants in favour of the respondents.

The judgment is at pages 232 to 251 of the record of appeal.

The notice of appeal is at page 257 of the record of appeal and contains 4 (Four) grounds of appeal.

The record of appeal was transmitted on 30/12/15, paving the way for the filing of appellants’ brief of argument on 18/11/21 but deemed as properly filed and served on 25/09/24. This brief was settled by Alex I. Umoh, Esq.

The respondent filed no brief. And so this appeal is to be determined on the appellant’s brief alone in line with order 19 rule 10(3) of the Court of Appeal Rules, 2021.

On 10/02/25 when the appeal came up for hearing, the appellants’ counsel, Alex Umoh, Esq., adopted the appellants’ brief of argument earlier identified, and the appeal then adjourned for judgment.

Factual background

The facts leading to this appeal is that the respondent had earlier filed this suit against the appellants at the High Court of Cross River State by writ of summons filed on 22/01/14. Following a jurisdictional challenge, the suit was then transferred to the National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN) sitting in Calabar (lower court) on 03/03/14. And by an amended complaint filed on 19/05/14, the respondent claimed the following reliefs against the appellants:

1. A declaration that the purported disqualification of the claimant for participation in union (ASUU) activities by the 1st and 2nd defendants vide its (sic) resolution of 16/12/2013 contravene the claimant’s right to fair hearing and should be declared null and void.
2. A declaration that it is only a court of competent jurisdiction that has power to declare the claimant’s guilty of misconduct or indictment.
3. An order nullifying the election conducted by the defendant into the defendant chapter without the participation of the claimant.
4. N50,000,000.00 being damages for breach of constitutional right.

Parties filed and exchanged pleadings. The respondent’s case at the lower court as claimant was that he was a lecturer and academic staff of the Cross River State University of Technology (CRUTECH) in Calabar. The 1st appellant, ASUU, is the union of academic staff of universities in Nigeria. The claimant was by virtue of his position a member of the CRUTECH chapter of the 1st appellant, and which in this appeal is the 3rd appellant but was also the 3rd defendant at the lower court. The appellant was the President of the 1st appellant.

Aspiring to be the chairman of CRUTECH branch of the union, the respondent had picked nomination form for the said office, went into screening and was cleared by the Electoral Committee of the 3rd appellant to contest for the office on 10/06/13 and further supported by a Report of the Screening Committee made on 13/06/13. While he was planning for the said election, the 1st and 3rd appellants released a resolution dated 16/12/2013 disqualifying him.

This development surprised the respondent as he claimed that he was never invited for any inquiry over any misconduct leveled against him before the 1st and 2nd appellants and had never been found guilty by any court nor been indicted. His further claim was that his disqualification had soiled his professional integrity.

The appellants had denied all these claims and contended among others that the University Investigating Panel had, following a petition against him, found the claimant to have sold a textbook on Philosophy & Logic (GSS 1102) to students without the University approval; and that the claimant was found to have tied a Review Assessment to the textbook to ensure a mandatory purchase of the book by all students offering the course.

The appellants claimed that the indictment of the respondent meant he was disqualified from contesting for any elective position by virtue of article 14 section 2(b) of the ASUU Constitution which provides among others that for a member to be eligible to run in an election as a branch officer, the member must “not have been involved in any form of financial-related misconduct or indictment” as the sale of a textbook without university approval fits the bill of article 14 section 2(b)(vi) of the ASUU Constitution.