Court Affirms Dismissal of Former JAMB Deputy Director

National Industrial Court has dismissed a lawsuit filed by Yisa Us­man, a former Deputy Director of the Joint Admis­sions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), upholding his termina­tion from service.

Presiding judge, Justice Osa­tohanmwen Obaseki-Osaghae, sitting in Abuja ruled that the dismissal was lawful and fully compliant with the board’s staff manual.

In a Certified True Copy of the judgment delivered on 2 June 2026 (Suit No: NICN/ ABJ/266/2023), the court also awarded N250,000 in costs against Usman in favour of JAMB.

Usman, who served in JAMB’s Finance Department, was dismissed in July 2023 for gross misconduct and willful disobedience of constituted au­thority, prompting him to chal­lenge the termination in court.

Justice Obaseki-Osaghae established that Usman was granted a fair hearing before his exit. The judge noted that the claimant responded to ini­tial queries but deliberately boy­cotted subsequent disciplinary proceedings.

Citing the Supreme Court precedent in Imonikhe v. Unity Bank Plc (2011), the judge stated: ‘Where an employer accuses an employee of misconduct by way of a query and the employee answers the query before the employer takes a decision… that satisfies the requirement of fair hearing.

The Claimant was issued with queries on miscon­duct, and by his own evidence, he gave detailed responses in writing. The Defendant was not satisfied with his response and invited him to appear before the Committee. By his own choice, he refused to appear. Fair hear­ing is simply “hear the other side”‘.

The court rejected Usman’s argument that the Minister of Education lacked the pow­er to approve his dismissal in the absence of a JAMB Gov­erning Board. Justice Obase­ki-Osaghae pointed out that the same Minister had approved Usman’s promotion to Deputy Director in 2017, which he ac­cepted without objection.

The judge ruled that ‘In the absence of a Governing Board, the Management seeks direc­tives and approvals from the Ministry… The power of the Minister to approve the dis­missal of the Claimant from the service of the Defendant is statutory, contained in Section 6 of the JAMB Act. The authority of the Minister to approve the Claimant’s dismissal in the ab­sence of the Governing Board is valid and within his supervi­sory powers’.

Furthermore, the court clari­fied that Usman’s dismissal was entirely unrelated to his alleged whistleblowing activities.