Court Adjourns N1bn Alleged Unlawful Withdrawal Suit against NIPSS to Feb 24

Alex Enumah in Abuja

Trial in an alleged unlawful withdrawal suit against the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru, Plateau State, has been adjourned till February 24, 2026.

The suit slated for December 8, before Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court, Abuja, could not go on as scheduled for reasons not disclosed.

Those who had arrived the court to witness proceedings in the suit were taken aback on sighting the cause list indicating that the matter has been adjourned.

The founder of PRNigeria, Malam Yushau Shuaib, had dragged the NIPSS to court over his alleged unlawful and arbitrary withdrawal from the Senior Executive Course (SEC) 47 of the Institute, after his admission had been approved by President Bola Tinubu and necessary payment and conditions precedent had been fully met.

In the suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/1329/2025, Shuaib, a renowned public relations expert, is demanding the sum of N1 billion in general, special, and aggravated damages against NIPSS over emotional trauma and reputational damage he suffered as a result of unlawful and unjust action of NIPSS against him.

He is also seeking an additional N100 million as litigation costs, having issued a pre-action notice on June 16, 2025, to the Institute’s Director General, Professor Ayo Omotayo, which was allegedly ignored by the management.

The case, filed on his behalf by Yunus Abdulsalam, SAN, seeks a court order setting aside his withdrawal from SEC 47 and reinstating him with full rights, benefits, and privileges.

Shuaib is also asking for a perpetual injunction restraining NIPSS, its agents, or officials from further harassment, intimidation, or cyberbullying.

In his originating summons, the plaintiff raised eight issues for determination. He argued that the publication of a news article by PRNigeria, an independent media organisation, cannot lawfully be attributed to him as misconduct when he neither authored nor endorsed it.

He also questioned whether NIPSS’s alleged access and use of his private email without consent violated his constitutional right to privacy under Section 37 of the 1999 Constitution.

Shuaib further contended that disciplinary action against him for professional opinions expressed in a published article breached his right to freedom of expression guaranteed by Section 39(1).

He argued that barring other participants from interacting with him and removing him from official platforms amounted to harassment, cyberbullying, and forced isolation.

He maintained that denying him participation in the international study tour, despite his full payment of N18.3 million course fees, constituted discrimination and breach of contract.

Shuaib also faulted his suspension and withdrawal from the course based on alleged “externalisation of the subject” without a fair hearing, describing it as a violation of his constitutional right under Section 36(1).

He is therefore seeking declarations that the actions of NIPSS were unlawful, unjustifiable, discriminatory, and unsupported by any regulation guiding the institute.

The plaintiff is also asking the court to reinstate him into SEC 47 with full privileges, to declare that NIPSS has no authority to penalize him for content published by an independent platform, to hold that accessing his private emails violated his constitutional rights, and to declare his withdrawal unlawful, unjustifiable, and discriminatory.