Justice Binta Nyako to Preside Over PRNigeria Publisher’s ₦1.1bn Lawsuit Against NIPSS
Justice Binta Fatima Nyako of the Federal High Court, Abuja division, has been assigned to hear the high-profile suit instituted by Malam Yushau A. Shuaib, founder and publisher of PRNigeria, challenging his unlawful and arbitrary 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 the hearing to address the plaintiff’s grievances against NIPSS.
Mr. Shuaib, a renowned public relations expert, is seeking a court order to set aside his withdrawal from the SEC 47 and have him reinstated with full rights, benefits, and privileges.
The plaintiff, represented by a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) Yunus Abdulsalam, 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.
The legal action stems from Mr. Shuaib’s withdrawal from the course after President Bola Tinubu had approved his admission and he had made full payment of the N18.3 million course fees.
In a 40-paragraph affidavit, Mr. Shuaib, who was nominated by the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), detailed the sequence of events he claims constitute harassment, Cyberbullying and arbitrary disciplinary actions.
He stated he was queried over two main issues: a PRNigeria news article titled “NIPSS Goes Digital…” which he insisted he neither authored nor edited, and a professional opinion article about the “Blue Economy,” without any reference to the institute, which NIPSS allegedly intercepted from his private email before publication.
Read Also:
Mr. Shuaib claimed that the queries were unfounded and not supported by the NIPSS Code of Conduct. He further alleged that his withdrawal letter, dated June 2, 2025, was not officially served on him but was instead addressed only to NIPR.
In his originating summons, the plaintiff raised eight core issues for determination, arguing that NIPSS’s actions were unlawful, unjustifiable, and discriminatory.
Shuaib asserts that NIPSS’s alleged access and use of his private email without consent violated his constitutional right to privacy under Section 37 of the 1999 Constitution. Furthermore, he argues 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 strongly faults his suspension and withdrawal from the course, noting it was based on the alleged “externalisation of the subject” without granting him a fair hearing. This, he argues, constitutes a violation of his constitutional right to a fair hearing under Section 36(1).
Mr. Shuaib, who paid the full N18.3 million course fees, maintains that denying him participation in the international study tour amounted to both a breach of contract and discrimination.
He argues that the publication of a news article by PRNigeria, an independent media organisation, cannot be lawfully attributed to him as personal misconduct since he neither authored nor endorsed the content. He further alleges 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 seeks declarations that NIPSS lacked authority to penalise him for content published on an independent platform and that his withdrawal was unlawful. The case before Justice Nyako will now determine the legality of the institute’s decision against a participant nominated for the elite policy course.
By PRNigeria
