The National Industrial Court sitting in Akure has ordered the management of Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, Owo, Ondo State, to reinstate 15 of the 32 sacked workers of the institution.
In a judgment delivered yesterday in Akure, the court ruled that all entitlements of the reinstated workers should be paid in arrears with immediate effect.
It would be recalled that 32 workers, comprising 10 academic and 22 non-academic staff were relieved of their jobs in January 2013 following a re-organisation of the institution.
In the ruling, Justice Ndidi Ubaka said the workers were wrongfully sacked as the management failed to justify the reasons for the sack.
According to him, the court reinstated 15 of the workers because they were able to prove that they were senior staff of the institution. The judge said those not reinstated are junior staff and could not give satisfactory evidence to prove their cases.
Reacting to the judgment, the former Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) chairman of the institution, Mr Olubamiji Kumuyi said they received the judgement with mixed feelings, saying all the affected workers are members of senior staff of the institution. He stressed that the court used a divide and rule style of judgment by using their letters of appointment in deciding the case
