Director-General (DG) of the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR) Professor John Obafunwa, on Tuesday allegedly shunned a valid court order and insisted on retiring some of the institute’s research professors as the dispute escalated into confrontations, deepening tension and instability within the institution.
Obafunwa is pressing to retire research professors who have completed eight years as directors, invoking a federal policy that mandates directors on Grade Level 17 to exit office after serving for eight years.
The Academic Staff Union of Research Institutions (ASURI), says the rule does not apply to research professors and chief research fellows, whom it says should be treated like university academics.
The Federal Government’s eight-year tenure policy for directors was reaffirmed in a February 2026 circular from the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, which cited Rule 020909 of the Public Service Rules.
NIMR management has said it is implementing a government directive, not pursuing a personal policy.
ASURI contends that earlier government circulars exempted directors in research institutions from the eight-year rule unless they had reached the statutory retirement age or completed the required years of service.
The union argues that research professors are entitled to remain in service until age 65 or after 40 years of pensionable service, similar to their university counterparts.
The union points to a July 10 ruling by the National Industrial Court (NIC) in a case brought by Rakiya Iliyasu, an education director.
Justice Olufunke Anuwe held that the eight-year tenure rule could not lawfully be applied to teachers and education officers protected by the Harmonised Retirement Age for Teachers in Nigeria Act, 2022.
The court declared the relevant 2026 circulars illegal, null and void insofar as they applied to protected education officers, and issued a perpetual injunction against enforcing the policy inconsistently with the 2022 Act.
“A teacher or education officer, whether he or she got to the post of Director or not, is entitled to retire from service on attaining 65 years of age or 40 years of service,” Justice Anuwe ruled.
ASURI National Secretary Theophilus Ndubuaku said the dispute intensified after NIMR served three directors an August 7 notice directing them to surrender institute property and vacate official quarters by August 31.
He said the union had pursued reconciliation through the Labour Ministry before the notices were issued.
When the deadline passed without eviction, the union believed management would await the court’s resolution.
Instead, it said, NIMR issued an October 19 reminder warning the directors of administrative consequences if they failed to hand over property and leave their residences.
The union also alleged that the three directors’ salaries had been stopped since March and that their official email accounts had been disrupted.
NIMR management didn’t respond to those specific allegations in the account provided; Obafunwa denied having a problem with the directors and referred inquiries to the Head of the Civil Service or the Ministry of Health.
ASURI said it has contacted its lawyer and intends to return to the National Industrial Court to report the director-general’s actions.
Ndubuaku said the union could resort to industrial action if the court does not intervene.
The union warns that forcing out specialized researchers could disrupt ongoing research programs, erode institutional memory and weaken the nation’s already fragile research ecosystem.
NIMR, which says it serves more than 250 million Nigerians, has defended the retirements as compliance with federal rules.
ASURI said similar eight-year tenure enforcement is being pursued at the National Biotechnology Research and Development Agency (NBRDA), the Administrative Staff College of Nigeria (ASCN) and the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development (NIPRD), and that it has taken some of those institutions to court.
NIMR’s position is that the policy applies across ministries, departments and agencies, and that any staff member who disputes a directive should take the matter to the appropriate government authority.
