‎By Sam Otuonye
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‎The National Industrial Court sitting in Abuja has dismissed a stay of execution bid by the Medical Director, Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital Enugu, Dr Ngozi Unaogu, against the court’s judgment which sacked her from office and ordered the immediate reinstatement of Prof Monday Igwe to complete his unlawfully terminated tenure in the office.
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‎This is contained in a Certified True Copy (CTC) of the Court issued on July 15, 2026 after Justice E. D. Subilim delivered a ruling on the Stay of Execution Bid and the CTC made available to newsmen on Thursday.
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‎According to Barr Michael Okorie, counsel to Igwe, the implication of the dismissal of the stay of execution bid is that all official actions including issuance of appointment letters and award of contracts by Unaogu since December 11, 2025 when the judgment was delivered are null and void.
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‎Okorie further warned members of the public to beware of dealings with Unaogu to avoid suffering nullity of such illegal actions.
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‎He further explained that the dismissal of the stay of execution bid means the judgment remains operative and enforceable.
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‎The development requires President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR to direct the Minister of State, Health and Social Welfare to immediately comply with the judgment in order to uphold the rule of law and to prevent further deterioration of the public health organisation.
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‎It would be recalled that the Court had December 11, 2025, delivered a judgment in which it ordered the reinstatement of Igwe to office as the Medical Director of the Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Enugu after he declared the earlier termination of his appointment as null and void and also nullified the later appointment of Unaogu.
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‎The court found that the termination of appointment of Igwe did not follow the laid down disciplinary procedure.
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‎The court also ruled that the appointment of Unaogu during the pendency of the suit in which she was a party rendered it a nullity.
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‎However, several months after the judgement was served on the defendants, Unaogu and her co-defendants refused to comply with the judgment orders, prompting Igwe through his counsel, Okorie, to institute a suit of contempt of court against in mid-April 2026.