Appeal Court Dismisses NCAA’s Motion, Clearing Path for Reinstatement of Sacked Staff
The Court of Appeal in Lagos has struck out an application by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) that sought to challenge the reinstatement of a former employee, removing a major obstacle to the enforcement of a National Industrial Court judgment.
In a ruling delivered on 23 April 2026, a three-member panel of Justices Folasade Ayodeji Ojo, Muslim Sule Hassan and Polycarp Terna Kwahar dismissed the NCAA’s motion dated 19 March 2025 for want of diligent prosecution. The court noted that although hearing notices were served on the authority’s counsel, no one appeared to argue the application. “The motion is hereby struck out for want of diligent prosecution,” the panel ordered.
The struck-out motion was an attempt by the NCAA to resist the execution of a 13 December 2024 judgment of the National Industrial Court sitting in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, which had declared the dismissal of Mrs Annastasia Nneka Anukwa unlawful and ordered her reinstatement with full payment of outstanding salaries, allowances and entitlements.
Anukwa, who joined the NCAA on 30 July 2001 and rose to the position of Assistant Chief Accountant on Grade Level 13 Step 08, was dismissed following a dispute over redeployment and deferred annual leave. She maintained that she was wrongly accused of absconding and was denied the disciplinary safeguards set out in the NCAA’s Conditions of Service.
The NCAA had defended the dismissal, arguing that Anukwa disobeyed a redeployment directive, failed to report through proper channels and absented herself from duty without authorisation. But in his judgment, Justice S.H. Danjidda of the National Industrial Court rejected that defence, holding that Anukwa’s employment enjoyed statutory protection and that her dismissal without compliance with the mandatory disciplinary procedure was “wrongful, unlawful, null and void.”
The court subsequently ordered the NCAA to reinstate her and pay all salaries, allowances and other entitlements from the date of dismissal to the date of reinstatement. Only the claim for litigation costs was refused.
Following what she described as the NCAA’s failure to fully comply with the judgment, Anukwa petitioned the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Mr Festus Keyamo (SAN), urging him to intervene and compel the authority to implement the court’s orders. The petition was lodged before the Court of Appeal struck out the NCAA’s application, a development that now removes a significant legal barrier to her reinstatement.
Anukwa had originally filed the suit in November 2015, asking the court to declare her employment statutory, set aside her dismissal, and award her salary arrears, including ₦666,520 allegedly owed for January and February 2015.