Industrial Court Strikes Out Alumni’s Case Challenging The Appointment of Rivers State College of Health Science Provost
Hon. Justice Zaynab Bashir of the National Industrial Court sitting in Port Harcourt has struck out a lawsuit filed by the Incorporated Trustees of the Rivers State College of Health Science and Management Technology Alumni Association. The group had challenged the reappointment of Professor Franklin as Provost of the College by the Governor of Rivers State.
The court ruled that the Alumni Association lacked the locus standi—the legal right or capacity—to initiate the suit, rendering the entire case incompetent.
The claimants had sought a declaration that the Governor’s unilateral reappointment of Prof. Franklin violated the Rivers State College of Health Science and Management Technology Law of 2019 and was therefore illegal. They also requested an order compelling the state to immediately constitute a Governing Council for the College, with alumni representation as mandated by the law.
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However, the Attorney General of Rivers State, along with five other defendants, filed a preliminary objection, arguing that the suit failed to disclose any civil rights of the Alumni Association that were violated. They further contended that the association had no standing to sue, especially as it acknowledged in its own filings that the College’s Governing Council had not yet been constituted—thus nullifying the platform on which the suit was based.
In opposition, the Alumni’s counsel claimed the association had sufficient interest as a statutory member of the yet-to-be-formed council and argued that declaratory reliefs can be granted even without a defined cause of action.
In her ruling, Justice Zaynab agreed with the objection, stating that the Alumni Association’s claim was based on speculative interest rather than an established legal right. She emphasized that locus standi requires a personal and adversely affected interest, not a general or assumed one.
The court found that the association failed to demonstrate any legal basis for its demand to participate in the appointment process or in the College’s governance structure. Consequently, the judge ruled the suit lacked merit and struck it out.
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