The court, presided over by Justice Osatohanmwen Obaseki-Osaghae, deemed the retirement of Mbu before reaching the mandatory age of 60 years as unlawful.
Justice Obaseki-Osaghae stated that Mbu's premature retirement, announced through a press release on July 2, 2016, was unconstitutional, null, and void. The court set aside the purported retirement and declared that Mbu remained an officer of the Nigeria Police Force until he reached the mandatory retirement age of 60 on May 10, 2018.
In Addition, the court ordered the PSC to compensate Mbu with his salaries, allowances, and entitlements from July 2, 2016, when he was retired, until when he should have retired at the age of 60.
As part of the judgment, the court directed the defendant to pay the claimant N750,000 as the cost of the suit. It further stipulated that failure to comply with the court's orders within 30 days would attract a 10 percent annual interest.
However, the court declined the relief sought by Mbu for promotion to the position of Deputy Inspector General and reinstatement. The court explained that these requests could not be granted since the claimant had already reached the mandatory retirement age by the time the suit was pending.
Mbu had filed the lawsuit against the Police Service Commission regarding his alleged compulsory retirement on July 2, 2016, while serving as the commandant of the Police Staff College. He contended that his retirement was done through a press release without being served the statutory notice of retirement.
Mbu sought the court's intervention to invalidate his retirement, as well as payment of salaries, allowances, entitlements, terminal benefits, N500 million as general damages, and N20 million as the cost of the suit.
The defendant argued that Mbu was not retired through a press release but was instead pulled out from the force in a ceremonial event. The PSC also asserted that promotion within the force is not automatic and that the claimant did not meet some of the requirements for promotion.
