The Nigerian Army Council has upturned the demotion of Major-General Patrick Adebayo Falade by the Court Marshal of the Nigerian Armed Forces.
The erstwhile Director, 68 Military Reference Hospital, Yaba, Lagos State, had been arraigned on a two-count charge for admitting international students from Espan Formation University, Cotonou, in Benin Republic between July and September, 2016.
He was, however, demoted to Brigadier-General for admitting students for clinical training without permission from higher authorities
According to the defence counsel, Wing Commander Enikela Onyilo Uloko, the council instead warned against the future admission of students for clinical training without due clearance from the Army Headquarters.
Earlier, the President of the Court Marshal, Air Vice-Marshal James Gbum, discharged Falola on one of the two counts levelled against him, prior to the latest council verdict.
Also, counsel to the defendant had earlier filed an appeal before the Federal Court, which granted an interim injunction for the suspension of the demotion.
‘’We shall now withdraw our appeal since the council’s judgment favoured my client,” he said after the council’s ruling.
Uloko had submitted that there was no law or instruction on the ground by the Armed Forces stating that senior officers needed permission from higher authorities before allowing such training for Nigerian citizens.
“There was nothing tendered in evidence to criminalise such an act, and when the act is done, it does not amount to a criminal offence,” the defence counsel argued.
Falola, who is a consultant ophthalmologist, commanded several military hospitals, including the Armed Forces Specialist Hospital in Kano.
Speaking to journalists after his discharge by the military council, Falola described his demotion as a premeditated attempt to tarnish his unblemished records.