The National Industrial Court (NICN) in Abuja has ordered the service of a contempt charge against the Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr. Iziak Adekunle Salako, over alleged failure to comply with a court judgment.

Also listed in the notice of consequences for disobedience of a valid court order (Form 48) is the Medical Director of the Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Enugu, Dr. Unaogu Ngozichukwu Nneka.

The contempt proceedings, marked NICN/ABJ/23M/2026, were initiated by Prof. Monday Igwe, who was reinstated as Medical Director of the hospital following a court judgment delivered on December 11, 2025.

In the earlier ruling, Justice Emmanuel Subilim declared the termination of Igwe’s appointment unlawful, null, and void, holding that due process was not followed.

“The procedure adopted for the purported termination… was arbitrary, illegal, and a fundamental breach of the mandatory statutory provisions,” the judge ruled.

The court also ordered that Igwe be paid all outstanding emoluments from September 2023 up to the date of judgment.

According to the judgment, the claimant still had about three years and five months left in his tenure at the time of the termination.

The defendants in the substantive suit include the Coordinating Minister of Health, the Minister of State for Health, the Federal Ministry of Health, the Attorney General of the Federation, and other relevant officials.