Court declares suspended Kano anti-corruption boss substantive chairman of commission

The National Industrial Court in Abuja has ruled that the suspended chairman of the Kano State Public Complaint and Anti-Corruption Commission (PCACC), Muhuyi Magaji, is the substantive head of the commission.

The court ordered Kano State Government to pay Mr Magaji his outstanding salaries and arrears following his suspension in July last year.

Mr Magaji applied for the reversal of his suspension before the court.

He was suspended for a month on July 2021 over his alleged opposition to the posting of an accountant to the agency from the Office of the Accountant-General of the state. He has not been recalled since.

The court declared that Mr Magaji is still the substantive chairman of the state-owned anti-corruption commission and ordered Governor Abdullahi Ganduje to continue paying his monthly salary and arrears of N5,713.891.22.

Delivering the judgement on Wednesday, the judge, Oyebiola Oyewumi, said Mr Magaji is entitled to be paid his monthly salary from the day of the judgement to the date of his reinstatement.

However, the judge refused the prayers of Mr Magaji to declare his suspension unconstitutional, null and void.

Instead, the judge ruled that it will be a disruption of the right of an employer or appointer to fetter him with an injunction not to discipline his employee or appointee, thus since it is the governor that appointed the claimant.

The court ruled that government has the power to suspend him and in doing so, may or may not allow him to be heard before his suspension, the reason being that suspension is not a permanent deprivation of a right, unlike termination which required giving the employee an opportunity of being heard.

The court also faulted the treatment meted to Mr Magaji by the Kano State police command where he was arrested with a warrant that discloses no offence which in the view of the court is an act of impunity without legal justification and therefore restrained the commissioner of police who is the 6th defendant in the suit perpetually from meddling in the affairs of the claimant in any matter affecting his workplace.

The Kano State Government is yet to respond to the development, and the government’s spokesperson, Muhammad Garba, could not be immediately reached for comment Friday morning.