Appeal Court Strikes Out NCAA’s Motion, Clearing Path for Reinstatement of Former Employee

The Court of Appeal, Lagos Division, has struck out an application by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) that sought to challenge the reinstatement of a former employee, Mrs Annastasia Nneka Anukwa, effectively removing a legal barrier to the enforcement of the National Industrial Court’s judgement in her favour.

In a ruling delivered on 23 April 2026, a three-member panel comprising Justices Folasade Ayodeji Ojo, Muslim Sule Hassan and Polycarp Terna Kwahar dismissed the NCAA’s application dated 19 March 2025 on the grounds that the authority failed to prosecute it. The court noted that the applicant’s counsel had been duly served with a hearing notice but did not appear to pursue the motion.

“The motion is hereby struck out for want of diligent prosecution,” the appellate court ordered.

The decision strengthens a judgement delivered more than a year earlier by the National Industrial Court sitting in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, which had declared Mrs Anukwa’s dismissal unlawful, voided the termination, and ordered her reinstatement.

Following what she described as the NCAA’s incomplete compliance with the judgement, Mrs Anukwa had petitioned the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Mr Festus Keyamo (SAN), urging him to intervene and compel the authority to fully implement the court’s orders, including the payment of outstanding salaries, allowances and entitlements.

Mrs Anukwa originally filed her suit in November 2015, seeking declarations that her employment carried statutory protection, that her dismissal was unlawful, and an order restoring her to her position with full benefits. She also claimed salary arrears and entitlements allegedly withheld, including ₦666,520 representing her salaries for January and February 2015.

She informed the trial court that she joined the NCAA on 30 July 2001 and rose to the rank of Assistant Chief Accountant on Grade Level 13 Step 08, consistently earning excellent performance ratings throughout her career. According to her, the dispute leading to her dismissal stemmed from issues surrounding her redeployment and deferred annual leave. She contended that she was wrongly accused of absconding and was dismissed without being afforded the disciplinary safeguards prescribed in the authority’s Conditions of Service.

The NCAA, in its defence, argued that Mrs Anukwa disobeyed a redeployment directive, failed to report through proper channels and absented herself from duty without authorisation.

In its judgement of 13 December 2024, the National Industrial Court rejected the NCAA’s defence, holding that the claimant’s employment was clothed with statutory flavour and that the dismissal was carried out in breach of mandatory disciplinary procedures. Justice S.H. Danjidda observed that the NCAA, as a statutory body established under the Civil Aviation Act, is bound by its Conditions of Service, which carry the force of law.

“The dismissal of the claimant without compliance with the mandatory disciplinary procedure is wrongful, unlawful, null and void,” the court stated, before ordering: “The claimant is hereby reinstated to her employment with the defendant.”

The court also directed the NCAA to pay all salaries, allowances and other entitlements due to Mrs Anukwa from the date of her dismissal until her reinstatement. While granting substantially all the reliefs sought, the court declined her claim for litigation costs.