Appeal Court reinstates ex NIA DG Dauda

•Affirms NICN judgment

By Vivian Okejeme, Abuja

The Appeal Court has reinstated Ambassador Mohammed Dauda as the Director General of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA).
The court also awarded the sum of N1 million to the dismissed DG against the NIA.
The presiding Judge, Justice Peter Ige gave the verdict on Thursday evening, while delivering a judgement in an appeal filed by the NIA.
In his judgment, the judge held that Dauda should be allowed to retire in service in accordance with the stipulated laws.
The Judge resolved all the contentious issues against NIA in favour of respondent.
He held: “There is no evidence before the court that shows that the respondent has constituted any risk or breached any law.
“The appellant appeal is hereby dismissed for lacking in merit and the Industrial Court judgment is hereby affirmed, “
Earlier, the Abuja National Industrial Court had ordered the reinstatement of Mohammed Dauda as the head of National Intelligence Agency and payment of salaries and entitlements from March 2018 till date after it found that his dismissal fell short of the NIA Act.
In the judgment delivered by Justice Olufunke Anuwe, it was held that, under the agency’s rule, the appropriate committee to investigate disciplinary cases against management staff is the management staff disciplinary committee, “not the special management staff disciplinary committee”.