By Ameh Ejekwonyilo
Abuja
The President of the National Industrial Court (NIC), Justice Babatunde Adejumo has advised the management of a petroleum pricing agency under the Ministry of Petroleum Resources and its former employee to explore an amicable settlement of the dispute caused by the alleged forceful retirement of the former staff.
Justice Adejumo gave the advice at the first hearing of the suit filed by the erstwhile employee to challenge the propriety of his retirement from office as a top management staff in the operations department by the defendant on December 30, 2013.
The agency had retired the claimant through a letter dated 30th December, 2013 when he had neither attained 60 years of age nor 35 years in service. The exercise, it seems was typical of the kind of impunity and illegality that are daily perpetrated by government officials in hot pursuit of vendetta and against known laid down organizational procedures.
The complainnant described the action of the defendant as: “premature, unlawful as it breached the applicable and relevant provisions of service and pension reform Act, 2004 LFN”.
As a result, the claimant is praying “a declaration that the defendant’s letters above purporting to retire him from service is irregular, a breach of the employment contract between the claimant and defendant, null and void and of no legal effect whatsoever.”
He is also asking the court to make “a mandatory order compelling the defendant to pay to him forthwith all outstanding salaries, allowances, benefits and/or emoluments attached to the claimant’s employment from 30th December, 2013 till date” among other reliefs.
The claimant’s legal team led by two Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SAN) told the court yesterday that the defendant had been served the necessary processes since May 14, 2014, but has yet to file its defence. Also, all efforts to make the retract the illegality and injustice done to the complainant was rebuffed.
The defendant was represented by a barrister who apparently did not have any prepared address for the court.
Before adjourning, Justice Adejumo said he would adjourn for the parties to seek ways of ensuring an amicable settlement in the case.
He said unlike any other conventional courts, his court was mandated to encourage disputing parties to ensure amicable settlement. “I will strongly commend, by virtue of the provision of this court’s establishment Act, that parties seek amicable way of resolving this dispute. In industrial and employment relations, the court is not concerned about the consequence of its pronouncement on parties alone, but on the entire society.
“In consulting with their clients, counsel should know what to say to contribute to the effort to ensure amicable settlement,” Justice Adejumo said.
The matter was adjourned to July 4, 2014 for hearing.
