Justice Binta Fatima Nyako of the Federal High Court, Abuja, has scheduled June 29 for the final judgment in a lawsuit filed by Yushau Shuaib, the founder of PRNigeria, against the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS). The litigation stems from Shuaib’s controversial removal from the Senior Executive Course (SEC) 47.
The court session was originally intended for June 19 but was rescheduled due to the judge’s commitments involving a mass trial of terrorism suspects. During final arguments, Shuaib’s legal representative, Teslim Adigun, requested that the court nullify the withdrawal and reinstate his client. Conversely, NIPSS attorney Pius Akubo, SAN, contended that the case should be dismissed, maintaining that admission to the course does not constitute a fundamental right.
Shuaib is seeking 1 billion naira in damages for reputational harm and emotional distress, alongside 100 million naira in legal fees. His legal team, led by Yunus Abdulsalam, SAN, argues that the withdrawal was discriminatory, violated his constitutional rights to privacy and freedom of expression, and lacked due process. Shuaib, who paid 18.3 million naira in fees, claims he was wrongly penalized for articles published by his independent media company, which he neither authored nor edited. Furthermore, he alleges that the institute unlawfully intercepted his private emails and subjected him to isolation and cyberbullying.
