The legal team of a whistleblower, who is a staff of the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading (NBET), Mr Sambo Abdullahi, Monday, accused the company’s management of delaying the execution of judgement in his favour.
Abdullahi, a staff of NBET in a suit no: NICN/ABJ/349/2018 and filed on December 7, 2018, before the National Industrial Court sitting in Abuja had challenged the suspension of his salary since 2017 by the NBET and its Managing Director, Dr Marilyn Amobi over the suspension of his salary since 2017.
NBET, Amobi, Minister of Power, and the Federal Ministry of Power, are joined in the suit as 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th defendants respectively.
The court presided over by Justice Oyejoju Oyewunmi in its judgement delivered on March 11, 2020, ordered NBET to pay Abdullahi his 28 month salaries.
The court also ruled that the suspension of his salaries from December 22, 2017, was wrongful, and averred that NBET’s refusal to allow him to go on leave in 2017 and 2018 was also wrong.
It also ruled that failure of NBET to pay his accrued salary and other emoluments within 30 days would attract 21 per cent of the accrued salary and other emoluments per annum.
The defence counsel on March 19,2020 filed a motion of stay of execution of the judgement.
But at the hearing of the case on Monday, the judgement debtors and their legal team did not appear in court.
While addressing the court, counsel to the judgement creditor, Adam Olori-Aje, said he had filed a counter motion on the stay of the judgement execution on the 4th of April.
He, however, expressed his disappointment that the judgement debtors had abandoned their motion, saying that the act was an attempt to deny the judgement creditor to enjoy the fruit of his judgement.
Olori-Aje said: ” We received a motion of stay of the judgement execution from the judgement debtors dated and filed on the 19th of March, 2020, and we had also filed a counter motion dated and filed on the 4th of April, 2020.
“But since then, we are surprised that the judgement debtors have abandoned their motion, and there was no effort on their part to seek for the date of hearing.
” It shows that the judgement debtors are not interested in their application to be heard. They are playing delay tactic to deny him (judgement creditor) to enjoy the fruit of his judgment . We are seeking the magnanimity of the court to give us a short notice for hearing.
In his ruling, Justice Oyewunmi ordered the court registrar to serve all the parties in the case and adjourned the matter till 15th of June for definite hearing of the motion.
