For over one month today, we have been pleading and persuading the President of ECOWAS Court Justice Edward Amoako Ashante to see reasons to comply with the ECOWAS Staff Regulations to issue end of Contract notice to The Nigerian Judge Executive Assistant Temitope Obasaju Stephen but,to no avail, he has refuse to comply, placing himself above the laws of ECOWAS community that he was employed to interprete and uphold.
After the controversial interpretation of the extension of tenure decision of Council signed on 12th July, 2022, out of personal vendetta to exclude Mr. Stephen, it seems the law Lord have send a clear message to the ECOWAS community that they the appointed judges are above the law and there is nothing anyone can do about it.
It will be recalled that on 13th of October around 5pm in the evening, the Director of Administration and Finance acting on the instruction of the President of the Court, issued an internal memo titled denial of access to office and in the memo allegedly terminated the appointment of the Nigerian EA with immediate effect, acting in the capacity in which he has no authority to do so. Since the 14th October, the Nigerian EA has been denied access to his office and Court promises without any known infraction of the law.
The ECOWAS Staff Regulation states in ARTICLE 59: TERMINATION OF APPOINTMENT
(a) The Head of Institution may terminate the appointment of a staff member
for any of the following reasons by giving three months’ written notice if
the staff member holds a permanent appointment and one month’s written
notice if the staff member holds a confirmed fixed-term appointment.
The Head of Institution may terminate the appointment of a staff member
on a fixed-term contract by giving a month’s written notice at any time
during the staff member’s probationary period for· any of the reasons set
out below, or without notice at the end of the probationary period, if the
appointment has not been confirmed under the conditions spelt out in
these Regulations.
The question still remains same after one month why is the President of the ECOWAS Court refusing to a give one month mandatory notice to the Nigerian EA Temitope Obasaju Stephen if they no longer need his services and if he is confident he is acting in accordance with the law or if he is not afraid of what will be the consequences of an action he knows to be wrongful termination.
The Nigerian EA Temitope Obasaju Stephen is still using this media to appeal to all members states and the President of the ECOWAS Commission as the chief legal officer to compel the ECOWAS Court President to issue the one month mandatory notice pursuant to ECOWAS Staff Regulations or on the alternative allow the staff access to office to continue his research duties. The President of the ECOWAS Court of Justice must be compel to act and make a choice of one, no one is above the law.
If the President is insisting on violating community law with impunity and bringing the reputation of ECOWAS Court to disrepute, we think it is time for his country Ghana to recall him back home in the interest of preserving the sanctity of the ECOWAS community law.
We ask the question again, why is it so difficult for the President of the ECOWAS Court Justice Edward Amoako Asante to obey and issue the end of contract one month notice if he is acting in accordance with the applicable extant law of ECOWAS community and staff regulations?
We do hope he will be persuaded to comply or follow the path of honour and dignity by resigning having failed to uphold his oath of office to protect ECOWAS community law as a Judge of ECOWAS Court.
The Nigerian EA Temitope Stephen says he still remains a bona-fide ECOWAS Court Staff until such a time he receives the official one month notice of end of contract as stipulated in Article 59 of the ECOWAS Staff Regulations.