Some final year students of the University of Port Harcourt on Tuesday requested a federal high court in Port Harcourt to order their school management to pay them the sum of five million Naira for delaying court proceedings.
The final year students who said they were supposed to have graduated in 2016 had dragged the University of Port Harcourt, the Vice Chancellor, the Registrar, the Senate and Governing Council to court for disqualifying them from graduating.
At the resumed hearing, the final year students through their lawyer, Kingdom Chukwueze informed the court that the school management had gone ahead to convene a meeting in respect of the subject matter before the court in order to frustrate the suit.
Chukwueze said: “If the court compels the five defendants to pay the sum of one million Naira each to his client, it will make them take the suit before the court seriously.”
The court, however, declined to award the final year students the sum of five million Naira, adding that the request lacked merit.
On his part, counsel to the defendants, Emeka Njoku said he was not aware of such meeting, insisting that he would find out and caution his clients where necessary.
Njoku maintained that both parties were yet to do the needful and exonerated his clients from being solely responsible for delaying court proceedings.
He said: “We both have things to regularise in our various affidavits. Before the next adjourned date being the 13th of September, 2018, all issues that needed to be regularised will be addressed.”
