By Wandoo Sombo
The founder of PRNigeria, Mr Yushau Shuaib, said he will appeal the Federal High Court judgment dismissing his N1 billion suit against the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru in Plateau.
Shuaib, who is also the Chief Executive Officer of Image Merchants Promotion Limited (IMPR) and founder of PRNigeria, is challenging his withdrawal from the institute’s Senior Executive Course (SEC) 47.
Justice Binta Nyako, in a judgment delivered on Monday, dismissed the suit and held that the institute acted within its disciplinary powers after finding that Shuaib breached its confidentiality rules.
The court held that by apologising on behalf of PRNigeria over a publication considered offensive by the institute, Shuaib had effectively admitted wrongdoing.
Justice Nyako also ruled that the public relations practitioner could not claim he was denied fair hearing, having appeared before the NIPSS disciplinary committee to respond to allegations before disciplinary action was taken.
The judge further held that Shuaib was bound by the oath of secrecy and confidentiality he subscribed to upon admission into the senior executive course and was obligated to comply with the institute’s rules throughout the programme.
Reacting to the judgment, however, Shuaib expressed disappointment, insisting that the court failed to distinguish between his personal conduct and the editorial independence of PRNigeria.
He maintained that before resuming at NIPSS, he had formally disengaged from the day-to-day editorial management of PRNigeria by handing over operational responsibilities in line with the Institute’s admission requirements.
He said it was unjust to hold him personally liable for publications by an independent media organisation that he neither authored nor edited during his participation in the course.
Shuaib also faulted the judgment for failing to make pronouncements on what he described as one of the central issues in the suit which was the alleged unlawful access to his private email communications.
He said he was surprised that the court held that the issue was not properly placed before it, in spite of his contention that his constitutional right to privacy had been violated.
Declaring his intention to continue the legal battle, Shuaib said the judgment would be challenged at the Court of Appeal.
“While I respect the judgment of the Federal High Court, I firmly believe thag there are substantial constitutional and legal issues that deserve appellate review.
“In the interest of justice, fairness and the protection of fundamental rights, we shall be approaching the Court of Appeal without delay,” he said.
The News Agency of Nigeria, (NAN) reports that Shuaib instituted the suit on July 7, 2025, after NIPSS withdrew him from SEC 47, seeking declarations that the Institute acted unlawfully, unconstitutionally and in breach of his fundamental rights.
In the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1329/2025, filed by Yunus Abdulsalam, SAN, he sought N1 billion in general, special and aggravated damages for emotional trauma and reputational injury allegedly suffered as a result of his withdrawal from the programme.
He also sought N100 million as litigation costs, having earlier served a pre-action notice on June 16, 2025, to the Director-General of NIPSS, Prof. Ayo Omotayo, which he claimed received no response.
Among the reliefs sought, the plaintiff asked the court to set aside his withdrawal from SEC 47, order his reinstatement with full rights and privileges, and restrain NIPSS from further acts of harassment, intimidation or cyberbullying.
In his originating summons, Shuaib raised eight constitutional and legal questions for determination, arguing that publications by PRNigeria, as an independent media organisation, could not lawfully be attributed to him as personal misconduct.
He also asked the court to determine whether NIPSS violated his constitutional right to privacy under Section 37 of the 1999 Constitution by allegedly accessing and using his private email correspondence without his consent.
Shuaib further argued that disciplinary measures taken against him over professional opinions expressed in an editorial amounted to a violation of his right to freedom of expression guaranteed under Section 39 of the Constitution.
He equally alleged that his exclusion from official communication platforms, denial of participation in the institute’s international study tour in spite of the payment of N18.3 million course fees amounted to discrimination, breach of contract and denial of fair hearing.
In a 40-paragraph supporting affidavit, Shuaib stated that he was nominated by the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) to participate in SEC 47, with the nomination subsequently approved by President Bola Tinubu.
He told the court that he complied with all admission requirements, including formally handing over the management of his media organisation before resuming at the Institute.
According to him, his ordeal began on March 24, 2025, when he received a query over a PRNigeria publication titled “NIPSS goes Digital; Launches Paperless Platform after Submitting Landmark Report to President Tinubu.”
He maintained that he neither authored nor edited the report, noting that similar stories had been published by several other media organisations.
Shuaib further alleged that on April 25, 2025, NIPSS queried him over an internal editorial email concerning an opinion article titled “Understanding the Blue in the Blue Economy,” which he described as a professional reflection containing no classified or confidential information.
He also claimed that the withdrawal letter dated June 2, 2025, was addressed to the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations without being officially served on him personally.
In spite of the setback at the Federal High Court, Shuaib said he remained determined to pursue the matter through the appellate process.
He expressed confidence that the Court of Appeal would comprehensively examine the constitutional, contractual and privacy issues raised in the case. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)