Categories: News

Court to hear ₦1.1bn suit against NIPSS on December 8

Interior of an empty courtroom with gavel, law books and sounding block on the desk.

Justice Binta Fatima Nyako of the Federal High Court, Abuja, has fixed December 8, 2025, for the hearing of a ₦1.1 billion lawsuit filed by public relations expert, Mr. Yushau A. Shuaib, against the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru.

The case, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1329/2025, was assigned by the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice John Tsoho. Shuaib, represented by Yunus Abdulsalam (SAN), is challenging his withdrawal from the institute’s Senior Executive Course (SEC) 47 and is seeking reinstatement with full rights and privileges.

The publisher of PRNigeria is demanding ₦1 billion in damages for alleged emotional and reputational harm, plus ₦100 million as litigation costs. He accused NIPSS of ignoring a pre-action notice sent to its Director General, Prof. Ayo Omotayo.

In his affidavit, Shuaib — who was nominated for the course by the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) — said his withdrawal followed unfounded queries over media publications, including a PRNigeria story titled “NIPSS Goes Digital…” and an opinion piece on Nigeria’s “Blue Economy,” which he insists were unrelated to the institute.

He claimed his withdrawal letter dated June 2, 2025, was never officially served on him but was only sent to the NIPR. The plaintiff also alleged that NIPSS unlawfully accessed his email, violating his constitutional right to privacy (Section 37), and that his suspension breached his freedom of expression (Section 39(1)) and right to fair hearing (Section 36(1)).

Having paid ₦18.3 million for the course, Shuaib said his exclusion from the international study tour constituted both discrimination and breach of contract. He further described NIPSS’s directive barring other participants from engaging with him and removing him from official platforms as harassment and cyberbullying.

He is asking the court to declare his withdrawal unlawful and to affirm that NIPSS lacked the authority to sanction him for materials published by an independent media platform.