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The Federal High Court in Abuja has rescheduled the hearing of Malam Yushau A. Shuaib’s lawsuit against the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru, to February 24, 2026.
The case concerns his removal from the Institute’s Senior Executive Course (SEC) 47.
Justice Binta Nyako had originally fixed December 8, 2025, for the hearing, but it was abruptly postponed without a formal announcement in open court.
The adjournment appeared on the court’s cause list, surprising those who arrived to attend the proceedings.
Shuaib, founder of PRNigeria, claims his withdrawal from SEC 47 was unlawful and arbitrary.
He filed the suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1329/2025, seeking ₦1 billion in general, special, and aggravated damages for emotional trauma and reputational harm, along with ₦100 million for litigation costs.
The claim followed an allegedly ignored pre-action notice sent to NIPSS’s Director General, Professor Ayo Omotayo, on June 16, 2025.
The plaintiff, represented by SAN Yunus Abdulsalam, is asking the court to set aside his withdrawal and reinstate him with full rights, benefits, and privileges.
He also seeks a perpetual injunction preventing NIPSS or its officials from further harassment, intimidation, or cyberbullying.
Shuaib raised eight points for determination, arguing that a PRNigeria article he neither authored nor endorsed cannot constitute misconduct.
He also contended that NIPSS’s access to his private email violated his constitutional right to privacy (Section 37), while disciplinary action against him for professional opinions infringed his freedom of expression (Section 39(1)).
He further alleged that barring him from interactions with other participants and removing him from official platforms amounted to harassment and forced isolation.
Denying him participation in an international study tour despite payment of ₦18.3 million, he argued, was discriminatory and breached contract terms.
Shuaib claimed his suspension and withdrawal, reportedly based on the alleged “externalisation of the subject,” violated his constitutional right to a fair hearing (Section 36(1)) and requested declarations that NIPSS’s actions were unlawful, discriminatory, and unsupported by any institutional regulation.
In a detailed 40-paragraph affidavit, he presented his nomination by the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), presidential approval, proof of payment, and compliance with NIPSS requirements, including handing over responsibilities at his company, Image Merchants Promotion Limited.
Shuaib noted that on March 24, 2025, he received a query over a PRNigeria article he neither authored nor edited. A subsequent query on April 25 concerned an internal editorial titled “Understanding the ‘Blue’ in the Blue Economy,” which NIPSS allegedly intercepted without justification.
He also claimed that the withdrawal letter dated 2 June 2025 was addressed only to NIPR and not officially served on him.
Shuaib seeks court orders to reinstate him fully into SEC 47, affirm that NIPSS cannot penalise him for independent publications, declare accessing his private emails unconstitutional, and nullify his withdrawal as unlawful and discriminatory
