The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has handed over ₦1.05 billion in recovered funds to 659 teachers disengaged by the Adamawa State Government in 2014 over disputed appointments and unpaid entitlements.
The EFCC’s Gombe Zonal Directorate presented a bank draft worth ₦1,054,919,532.61 on Thursday, October 29, 2026.
According to a statement by the commission’s spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, the teachers’ lawyer, Luka Haruna, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, received the draft on their behalf.
The EFCC said its investigation began in 2024 after it received a petition from Abraham Song concerning the teachers’ outstanding entitlements.
The commission said its investigation identified the risk of the funds being misapplied, prompting steps to preserve and recover the money before handing it over to the beneficiaries’ representative.
Speaking at the handover ceremony, the Acting Zonal Director of the EFCC, Austine Adache, reaffirmed the commission’s commitment to accountability, justice and returning recovered funds to their rightful owners.
Haruna thanked the commission for its intervention, while Song said the recovery would help ease the financial difficulties faced by the affected teachers.
Background to the dispute
The teachers were employed by the Adamawa State Government in 2012 and worked in secondary schools across the state for 29 months before their appointments were declared illegal in December 2014.
They challenged their disengagement at the National Industrial Court, which ruled in their favour on June 13, 2018.
Justice N.C.S. Ogbuanya held that a valid employment relationship existed between the teachers and the state government, making them entitled to outstanding salaries and other benefits.
The court ordered the government to pay approximately ₦660 million, comprising ₦638.3 million in salary arrears and ₦22 million representing one month’s salary in lieu of notice.
It directed the government to settle the amount within two months, with interest accruing at 10 per cent annually on the outstanding sum in the event of non-compliance.
The state government had argued that the teachers were illegally recruited and lacked the required qualifications. It also said they were disengaged following a screening exercise.
However, the court rejected the government’s defence, citing contradictions in its arguments.
In subsequent efforts to enforce the judgment, the teachers initiated garnishee proceedings involving United Bank for Africa, First Bank of Nigeria, Fidelity Bank, Zenith Bank and Ecobank.
However, on May 15, 2025, the National Industrial Court in Yola struck out a garnishee application filed by the teachers.
Justice J.T. Agbadu-Fishim ruled that the supporting affidavit had been sworn by a litigation secretary in the law firm representing the teachers, contrary to the requirements of Section 83(1) of the Sheriffs and Civil Process Act.
The court consequently discharged the five banks from those proceedings. However, it did not overturn the 2018 judgment in favour of the teachers.
The court also noted that the debt had not been fully settled and that the parties disagreed over the outstanding balance, including previous payments and accrued interest.
The EFCC’s latest handover marks a significant development in the long-running dispute over the teachers’ entitlements.
The commission did not indicate in the statement whether the amount handed over represents the full outstanding liability under the 2018 judgment or how the recovered funds will be distributed among the 659 beneficiaries.
