Appeal Court directs Rivers Govt to pay teachers owed salaries for 10 years
Court of Appeal Rules in Favor of Teachers Regarding Unpaid Salaries
PORT HARCOURT — The Court of Appeal has issued a significant ruling in favor of teachers at the Demonstration Secondary School, affiliated with Ignatius Ajuru University of Education, ordering the Rivers State Government to pay all outstanding salaries owed to the affected educators since February 2016.
A three-member panel upheld a previous 2018 ruling by the National Industrial Court, which deemed the cessation of the teachers’ salaries unlawful. The dispute originated in 2016, when then-Governor Nyesom Wike announced that salaries for the impacted staff should be discontinued.
Following this directive, the university’s management halted salary payments to approximately 97 teachers. Despite numerous appeals from the educators, the management maintained its decision, prompting the teachers to seek legal recourse.
Initially, the National Industrial Court ruled in 2018 that the stoppage was unlawful and affirmed that the teachers remained employees of the university. However, the court did not mandate immediate payment of back salaries, citing inconsistencies in salary structures and allowances among the claimants as special damages.
Dissatisfied with aspects of the ruling, the Rivers State Government appealed to the Court of Appeal, while the teachers also filed a cross-appeal contesting the lower court’s decision not to order overdue salary payments.
After reviewing the case, the appellate court dismissed the state’s appeal and upheld the teachers’ cross-appeal, mandating the Rivers State Government and the university’s management to pay all outstanding salaries until compliance with the judgment.
Emeka Dite Ojoko, counsel for the affected teachers, described the ruling as a notable victory for the educators. He clarified that this case applies exclusively to the teachers at Ignatius Ajuru University of Education’s Demonstration Secondary School and does not include educators from other institutions, such as International Secondary School of Rivers State University and Comprehensive Secondary School in Bori, which are undergoing separate legal proceedings.
DAILY POST reached out for a response from the counsel for the Rivers State Government but did not receive a comment by the time of publication. The Court of Appeal serves as the final arbiter for matters arising from the National Industrial Court.
