By: Adebanjo Zainab Adejoke
Federal High Court Orders Immediate Reinstatement of UI’3The Federal High Court Ibadan Division has ordered the reinstatement of three UI students, Aduwo Ayodele, Mide Gbadegesin, and Nice Linus who were rusticated by the University’s Central Student Disciplinary Committee for protesting against tuition hikes on Monday, July 14, 2025.
The reinstatement was ordered during a ruling held on Wednesday, April 15, 2026, and presided over by Justice Nkeonye Evelyn Maha.
Recall that Mide Gbadegesin (700-level of Institute of African Studies) and Aduwo Ayodele (400-level History student) and Nice Linus (500-level Law student) participated in a placard protest on the 13th of May, 2024, during the swearing-in ceremony of the University of Ibadan Students’ Union Executives and Legislatives for the 2023/24 academic session led by Aweda Bolaji and Busoye Matthias as President and Speaker respectively.
Nice Linus, who was also involved in the protest, later lost her elected position as a legislator in the Student Representative Council.
The legal proceeding, fixed for 2:00 p.m., started exactly two hours late. The judge read out all arguments for the applicants (UI3) and the first respondent (University of Ibadan). Notable arguments for the applicants included that: (1) There was no evidence to prove that the ceremony was disrupted, based on the absence of a case of disruption from the union executives that were inaugurated on the said day, the 13th of May, 2024; and (2) The complainant, which in this case is the Vice-Chancellor of the university, should not be a member of the Student Disciplinary Council panel. After all arguments were read, the judge ruled in favour of the applicants and ordered the immediate reinstatement of Aduwo Ayodele and Olamide Gbadegeshin.
These three were rusticated on the 14th of July, 2025, on account of gross misconduct and disruption of the inauguration ceremony on the 13th of May, 2024.
According to the judgment delivered at around 5:00 PM, the court held that the applicants had established their constitutional right to freedom of association under the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and consequently ordered their reinstatement.“The applicants are reinstated with immediate effect as it relates to the subject matter of this suit, having established their right to freedom of association under the 1999 Constitution (as amended),” the court ruled.
The court further declared actions taken against the students in connection with the matter nullified in light of the judgment.“In light of the factual circumstances set above they are reinstated in their respective faculties of this university and any action that is limited to or by this judgment is hereby nullified in light of these developments,” the judge added.
Addressing the press after the victory, Aduwo Ayodele dedicated the judgment to the student community in Nigeria. In his words, “The victory today reinforces the right of students on campus to decry abnormal conditions.”
He further urged students to embrace unionism as their right and reclaim their associations from what he described as “so-called student leaders” who are operating “in the ambit of the university management.”
