Staff sues Kano judiciary over forced retirement, seeks N100m damages

A senior staff member of the Kano State Shari’a Court of Appeal, Muzambilu Ado, has taken the Kano State Judicial Service Commission (JSC) to the National Industrial Court after he was ordered to retire over alleged irregularities in his academic records.

Ado, who served as acting Director of Information and Statistics, is asking the court to award him N100 million in damages, arguing that the compulsory retirement has damaged his reputation and ended the career he worked hard to build. He is also seeking the cancellation of the JSC’s decision.

The JSC announced on July 6 that it had found serious irregularities in Ado’s academic credentials, including alleged alterations to his records and claims that he gained admission into the Nigerian Law School without the Commission’s approval. The Commission subsequently directed him to retire immediately.

However, Ado denied all the allegations. He said he joined the Kano State Judiciary in 2006 with a Diploma in Public Administration from Kaduna Polytechnic and insisted that he never submitted an HND certificate during any staff verification exercise. He argued that this contradicted claims that he forged an HND certificate.

Ado also defended his law degree, saying he obtained an LLB from Imperial University College in Sudan in 2022 after transferring from Alnahda International University in Niger Republic.

According to him, the transfer became necessary because Alnahda was not accredited by the Nigerian Law School to process his admission into the Bar Part I programme.

He further claimed that he was never given a copy of the petition against him or issued a formal query before the retirement decision, arguing that this violated civil service procedures.

He also said four colleagues received approval to attend the Nigerian Law School while he received neither approval nor rejection, yet was later accused of enrolling without authorisation.

Ado is also challenging the Nigerian Law School’s decision to expel him, arguing that any difficulty in verifying his records with Imperial University should not be blamed on him.

When contacted, Kano Judiciary spokesperson Baba Jibo Ibrahim declined to discuss the case in detail because it is already before the court.

However, he said the allegations against Ado originated from a petition submitted by another judiciary staff member, Sani Manzo, and insisted that Manzo is a real person.

Jibo also questioned the authenticity of a verification letter Ado presented from Imperial University, saying, “The claimant might have forged the document, as he failed to present it when summoned by the committee.”

He added that the Nigerian Law School tried to verify Ado’s academic records through the university’s official email addresses, but “all such emails were returned undelivered, and no response was received.”

The Kano JSC said it is ready to defend its decision in court.