Ekemezie seeks appointment as the Vice Chancellor of Nnamdi Azikiwe University

By Udodirim Oti ,Awka

An inventor and University don, Dr. Peter Ekemezie has gone to the National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN) to demand reversal of his dismissal as a University don by Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka on alleged “false defamatory petition” of forgery and other irregularities preferred against him.

Ekemezie, a academic staff with the then Anambra State University, now Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University, Uli Campus invented “Production of Automotive Brake Pad Using Kaolin as Frictional Materials in his Ph.D.dissertation with Unizik ((1st Defendant) and submitted same to National Office for Technology Acquisition and Production (NOTAP) by Dr. now Prof. V.I.E. Ajiwe on May 20, 2010..

In his capacity as the 1st Defendant of Intellectual Property and Technical Transfer Office (IPTTO) Coordinator.

It was gathered that after the submission, filing and evaluation of the innovation, the Claimant was appointed as an academic staff of the 1st Defendant’s institution as a condition-precedent on July 01, 2010.

It was gathered tat the Patent was granted in 2016 with registration No: RP/NG/P/415/2016 collected from NOTAP on behalf of the Claimant and 1st Defendant’ by Prof. Frank Ogbo, IPPTO Coordinator on February 04, 2019 as Ajiwe’s successor.

Trouble started in 2019 when the Claimant celebrated his 47th birthday anniversary and announced his intention to contest for Unizik’s Vice Chancellorship seat in 2014, only for him to witness opposition from the camp of the favoured candidate of 2nd Defendant and alleged use of the institution’s internal members and claimant’s two departmental colleagues to write false defamatory petition against him.

The petition, titled, “Fraudulent Claim of Patent by Peter Ekemezie and Other irregularities in his current Aporaissal,” which falsehood he claimed was published in some national dailies, led to his interdiction and summary dismiss on 10th October 2019 without following “the due process stipulated under Section 13(I)(7)(vi and vii) of the 1st Defendant’s Senior Staff Conditions of Service.

Aggrieved, Ekemezie filed the petition against the Nnamdi Azikiwe University (Unizik) Awka (1st Defendant and Governing Council of Unizik (2nd Defendant), in the suit No.NICN/AWK/40/2024, contending that his sack didn’t follow due process as stipulated under Section 13(1)(7)(vii and viii) of the 1st Defendant ‘s Senior Staff Conditions of Service and thus denied him his fundamental rights to fair hearing hence the unlawful nature of his interdiction.

The said petition titled, “Fraudulent Claim of Patent by Dr. Ekemezie and other irregularities in his current appraisal,” the claimant is seeking a declaration that his wrongful dismissal prevented him from fulfilling his ambition of becoming the Vice Chancellor of the 1st Defendant after the expiration of tenure of Professor Charles Esimone in June 2024.

He is also seeking an order of the court to set aside his dismissal on October 10, 2019 for being mala fides.

The. claimant equally demanded that he be returned as the Vice Chancellor in compensation for the alleged sponsored petition that not only dismissed him as an academic staff, but also sealed his hope of becoming the Vice Chancellor of Nnamdi Azikiwe University. In addition, he is seeking an order of the court mandating as the 2nd Defendant reinstating the claimant as Vice Chancellor of the 1st Defendant’s University, calling for the suspension of new appointment of the Unizik’s Vice Chancellor on the expiration of the six-month tenure of the present Acting Vice Chancellor, Prof. Carol Arinze-Umobi.

The Claimant is praying for an order if the court for nullification of any other person as the Substantive Vice Chancellor Vice Chancellor of the 1st Defendant by the 2nd Defendant apart from him to take over from the Acting Vice Chancellor within the period allowed by law.in succession of Esimone.

Finally, the Claimant is asking for an order of the court mandating the Defendants to tender unreserved apology to him jointly and severally.