Justice Binta Fatima Nyako of the Federal High Court, Abuja division, will hear the suit instituted by Mr. Yushau A. Shuaib challenging his withdrawal from the Senior Executive Course (SEC) 47 of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru.
The Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice John Tsoho, assigned the case, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1329/2025, and approved December 8, 2025, as the commencement date for hearing on the plaintiff’s grievances.
Represented by a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) Yunus Abdulsalam, the publisher of PRNigeria is seeking a court order to set aside his withdrawal from the SEC 47 and have him reinstated with full rights, benefits, and privileges.
Mr. Shuaib is suing NIPSS for ₦1 billion in damages over emotional and reputational harm, plus ₦100 million in litigation costs, alleging the institute ignored a pre-action notice sent to its Director General, Prof. Ayo Omotayo.
In a 40-paragraph affidavit, the media expert, nominated for the course by the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), detailed the sequence of events he claims constitute harassment, cyberbullying and arbitrary disciplinary actions.
Mr. Shuaib recalled how he was queried over a PRNigeria news article titled “NIPSS Goes Digital…” which he insisted he neither authored nor edited, and an opinion article about the country’s “Blue Economy,” without any reference to the institute.
The plaintiff, who claimed that the queries were unfounded and not supported by the institute’s Code of Conduct, stated that his withdrawal letter, dated June 2, 2025, was not officially served on him but only addressed to the NIPR.
In the originating summons, he raised eight issues for determination, arguing that NIPSS’s actions were non licet and discriminatory. He said the alleged access of his email without consent violated the right to privacy under Section 37 of the 1999 Constitution.
Furthermore, Mr. Shuaib contends that the punitive action taken against him for professional opinions expressed in a published article that had nothing to do with NIPSS breached his guaranteed freedom of expression under Section 39(1).
He faults his suspension and withdrawal from the course, saying it was based on the alleged “externalisation of the subject” as he had no opportunity of explanation, in violation of constitutional right to a fair hearing under Section 36(1).
Mr. Shuaib, who fully paid the ₦18.3 million course fees, maintains that denying him participation in the international study tour amounted to both a breach of contract and discrimination.
The publisher also informed the court that the decision to bar other participants from interacting with him and removing him from official platforms amounted to harassment, cyberbullying, and forced isolation.
The plaintiff is seeking declarations that NIPSS had no authority to penalise him for content put out by an independent platform and that his withdrawal from the Senior Executive Course 47 was entirely unlawful.
