JOSEPH SHAGBAOR IKYEGH, J.C.A. (Delivering the Leading Judgment): The appeal is from the judgment of the Federal High Court sitting in Lagos (the Court below) whereby it held that the Public Officers (Protection) Act did not apply to the contract of employment of the respondent with the appellant and entered judgment nullifying the dismissal of the respondent from the service of the appellant and setting aside the letter for dismissal and ordering the appellant to pay the respondent arrears of salary and emolument due and accruing to the respondent from the date of his dismissal from service and the date of his reinstatement which the Court below also ordered.
In a nutshell, the respondent had been in the employment of the appellant in the bursary or accounts department for over 15 years before his dismissal from service on 27-04-99 under the provisions of the Public Officers (Special Provisions) Decree No.17 of 1984 (then in the 1990 Edition of the Laws of the Federation of Nigeria).
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