The National Industrial Court, Abuja, on Wednesday ordered the
Nigeria Immigration Service, to pay an ex-staff, Oguntoyinbo Made N9.7
million in salary arrears within 30 days.
Muhammad-Babandede, CG Nigeria Immigration Service |
The salary as ordered by the court, was for July 1, 1999 to Aug.31,2014.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Made was employed by
the Service, on Nov. 1, 1993 as an Inspector of Immigration on Conpass
07.
Made had approached the court to seek redress after he was removed
from the service as a result of a retrenchment exercise in April, 1999.
Although he was reabsorbed back into the service in 2003, he was not
part of the day to day activities and promotion exercises of the
service.
However, by the judgment of the same court in June, 2014, the defendant was ordered to recognise the claimant as its staff.
Following the directive of the court, the claimant was again
reabsorbed, but was never paid salary arrears from July, 1999 to
Aug.31,2014, as recommended by its legal department.
Delivering judgment, Justice Rakiya Haastrup held that the crux of
the claimant’s case was that he was denied promotion several times by
the defendant and when he was eventually allowed to participate in 2015,
his result was never released.
She said “from the evidence before the court via Exhibit CWM7, which
contained the legal advice from the legal department of the defendant,
it admitted an error in the removal of the claimant from service in
1999.
”Furthermore, it is clear from the Exhibit that there were directives
from the Comptroller General for reinstatement of the claimant” the
judge said.
She further added that reinstatement simply involved a revocation of
the act of dismissal and restoration of payment of wages for the
intervening period.
Haastrup equally said an employee as claimant in this case, upon
reinstatement was entitled to be paid all his arrears of salary
including fringe benefits up to the point of reinstatement and
thereafter as and when due and payable.
The judge averred that ” the claimant has proved his entitlement to
the sum claimed, as computed by the defendant in Exhibit CWM8, totaling
the sum of N9.705 million.
“I am of the view that the claimant has been able to prove his case, I
hold therefore that the defendant is liable to pay the claimant the
aforementioned sum.
“I hold that the claimant has succeeded in all his reliefs in this
suit against the defendant and all the issues are also resolved in the
favour of the claimant,” she added.
She also declared that the exemption of the claimant from promotion
exercises from 1993 till date was an unfair labour practice,
discriminatory, unconstitutional and illegal.
Haastrup further ordered that the defendant should immediately
release the claimant’s result in the 2015 promotion exercises and align
the claimant’s rank to that of Comptroller of Immigration (CIS), as his
contemporaries who joined the service the same time with the claimant.
The judge in addition ordered the defendant to pay the claimant the
sum of N2million as general damages and awarded the sum of N250,000 to
the claimant, as cost of prosecuting the suit.
She concluded by saying that the judgment should be complied with within
60 days adding that failure to comply would attract 21 per cent interest
on the judgment sums.
Joined in the suit as a co-defendant were Civil Defence, Fire
Service, Immigration and Prison Services Board and the Comptroller
General of NIS.
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