AKSG appeal against Court Judgment in favour of 6,000 students

Michael Ufot

AKWA Ibom State government has appealed against the judgment of the High Court of Etinan Division which ruled that state government should pay damages to the 6,000 students of the defunct college of Agriculture, Obio Okpa, who were denied graduation certificate after graduation.

The court ordered the Akwa Ibom state government pay the sum of N1million and N500.000 for the HND and OND graduates respectively as damages.

In a landmark judgment delivered by Justice Pius Odiong, in December last year, the lower court had ruled in favour of the students directing the state government to pay the affected students damages for the wasted years and losses incurred.

The state government, in a notice and grounds of appeal filed in the Court of Appeal Calabar, Cross River State, through Justice Bassey J. Ekanem, Esq is seeking an order of the court to set aside the judgment of the lower court.

Justice Odiong in his judgement had held that “as duly admitted students of the now defunct Akwa Ibom State College of Agriculture, Obio Akpa, who paid all their due school and other sundry fees up to date; attended all required lectures; wrote and passed all prescribed examinations; and fulfilled and met all prescribed conditions for graduation from the college, the plaintiffs, as of right, were entitled to be awarded their respective certificates in both the National and Higher National Diploma levels of the college.

However, state government in its five grounds of Appeal, argued that the four appellants in the suit No. HU/70/2010, were not vested with the responsibility of issuing any certificate to the Respondent.

“The governor of Akwa Ibom State, Commissioner for Agriculture, Commissioner for Education and the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice none of the Appellants were vested with the responsibility of issuing any certificate to the Respondent. The college being corporate person was vested with such responsibility.

“The College being a corporate body with perpetual succession had a legal personality of its own and was responsible for any of its action or inaction. It had its own life and any decision taken by the said college was not directed by any of the defendants”.

The counsel to the respondent, barrister Ada Okonkwo, filed a cross appeal asking the court of Appeal, Calabar to increase the award of damages to N5million to HND graduates and N2.5million to OND graduates as against the award of N1million and N500.000 respectively which she stated is grossly inadequate to assuage the losses of the students considering the academic expenses and  wasted years