The Court of Appeal, Port Harcourt Judicial Division, has delivered judgment in favour of 97 staff of Ignatius Ajuru University of Education (IAUOE), directing the Rivers State Government and the institution to pay their withheld salaries and emoluments from February 2016 until full compliance.
According to a statement by the counsel of Ignatius Ajuru Staff, Mr. Emeka Ojoko, which was posted on his Facebook page, the landmark ruling came on Monday, 18 May 2026, as the appellate court dismissed the state government’s appeal against the judgment of the National Industrial Court and upheld the cross-appeal filed on behalf of the affected staff.
According to him, the National Industrial Court had on June 13, 2018, declared the employment of the 97 staff valid and subsisting. It ruled that the directive by then Governor Nyesom Ezenwo Wike stopping their salaries was unlawful, null, and void, and restrained both the governor and the university from interfering with their employment.
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However, the lower court declined to make an order compelling the government and the university to pay the accumulated salaries, a decision that left the workers in financial hardship for over a decade.
Delivering judgment on the appeal, the Court of Appeal corrected the omission by ordering the Rivers State Government and IAUOE to pay all outstanding salaries and emoluments to the staff with immediate effect.
The affected workers, who had endured years of financial distress, expressed relief as the court’s decision brought their long battle for justice to a close.
Mr. Ojoko stated that there is no right of appeal to the Supreme Court from decisions of the Court of Appeal in labour matters originating from the National Industrial Court.
And the development is expected to set a significant precedent regarding the rights of public servants against arbitrary executive directives.
