The National Industrial Court(NIC) sitting in Abuja has reinstated Comrade Innocent Bola-Audu as authentic President of the Association of Senior Civil Servants in Nigeria (ASCSN).

The verdict was delivered by Justice Oyewumi Oyejoju in a virtual proceedings monitored by Nairametrics on Sunday.

ASCSN is a trade union representing staff in the Nigerian Civil Service
Bola-Audu’s legal team sued ASCSN, Bashir Alade Lawal, and Tommy Etim-Okon (1st to 3rd respondents), seeking a declaration that the emergency meeting of its Central Working Committee in March 2021, which purportedly reached a decision that he should step aside over criminal allegations filed against him by the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), be nullified so he can be reinstated.

NAPTIP had arrested and arraigned Bola-Audu over alleged human trafficking offenses, but he was eventually discharged by an FCT High Court.

Despite his acquittal, the association members who removed him refused to reinstate him as president.

The claimant then approached the NIC for redress, seeking orders mandating the ASCSN and its agents to ensure that he completes his tenure of four years without any interruption, among others.

But the defendants’ legal team urged the court to decline jurisdiction on the matter.