By joshua 
The ECOWAS Staff Regulation is the guiding law and manual binding on all ECOWAS Staff on all matters.
We have been reporting a Staff case threatened with disengagement even though he is before the court and no official notification has been issued with regards to his employment contract termination.
It came to a peak on Wednesday October 5th when by a memo the personnel department expect the EA to the Nigerian Judge to sign end of contract paper for calculations of his entitlement even though no notice has been written to him.
The personnel insisted that a general memo issued to over 10 people on September 21st is sufficient notice while forgetting that it was contradictory to an earlier memo dated 18th August confirming that the EA is included in the extension of office.
It is indeed a very doggy move.
Tired about the cowboy style operation of the management of the ECOWAS Court, the EA requested that they give him an end of contract notice stating reasons why he is not part of the extension period which other EA colleagues are enjoying.
The management has refused up till the time of writing this report to comply.
The ECOWAS Staff Regulation expressly states in Article 59 (a) about separation from contract as follows:
” 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.”
Latest Investigation reveals that the management has gone to collude with the Auditor of ECOWAS office to issue a vetting clearance empowering them to issue a new letter of appointment to another person while the incumbent is still in office.
In a related development, the Nigerian EA still has a petition before the ECOWAS Commission awaiting consideration on the conflict of interest of the President of the Court in appointing his EA as the Research Department Principal officer by been part of the decision taking contrary to Staff Regulation of ECOWAS Article 5 (3f) which reads as follows:
“A Staff member who is part of the decision-making process for a recruitment and has interests in that process or any other process shall disclose that interest and recuse him/herself from the process.”
It will interest the community to know that while the petition is still awaiting consideration, the President of the Court has also gone to collude with the office of the Auditor of ECOWAS to vet and has issued appointment letter to his EA who has since resumed as Research P5 Officer.
Furthermore, after the interview and appointment of the new Registrar, the President unilaterally appointed three P5 Officer Position in the Registry and issued letters of appointment without competition or advertisement.
The Rule says the Head of institution may appoint people who perform well in an interview to same positions if there are still available vacancies in the same level or Band.
The Registrar position is a D2 and far apart in hierarchy to that of P5 position, the President of the Court ought to advertise and open the Three P5 positions in the Registry for competition.
It is no longer news that Nigerians have been marginalized in the ECOWAS body, Nigeria as a country foots the bills, as we write no single Nigerian is in Managerial or Director position in the ECOWAS Court of justice and we are about to lose another staff through personal vendetta for whatever reason best known to the President who has turn the court into a personal business.
Around February 2022, Three Researcher including two Nigerian were disengaged orally contrary to the rules of engagement in labour and contract law.
As we write this reports, the vacancies in the Research Department has been shared and kangaroo charade interview is been planned to allocate the positions to their own personal candidate through usual backdoor manipulated process.
He noted that Nigerians has been enslaved in their country with the lopsided promotions and employment victimizing their citizens in the Court and yet those authority in the country are not doing anything to address the situation as no one including the EA have been invited nor communicated with in regards to all the petition relating to promotions and compromised employment procedure before the Commission, yet people are resuming work as new staff without due process.
The Nigerian EA said he is ready to abide by whatever decision but insisted that due process must be followed and the ECOWAS Staff Regulation must be complied with if the regional body is not approving going back to the Stone Age where everyone does whatever pleases them.
“We are all community citizens of ECOWAS and we demand equal rights and equal treatment in accordance with the directive and Regulations guiding and applicable to all of us without fear or favour”.
He said the President of the Court should comply with the Staff Regulation as no one is above the Rule of law including Judges.