Court Orders NECO to reinstate dismissed staff, awards N1 million damages
An Abuja division of the National Industrial Court has ordered the National Examinations Council (NECO) to reinstate Mr. Ibrahim Musa to its employment.
Justice Olufunke Anuwe gave the order on Tuesday while delivering judgement in the suit. She declared that the termination of Mr. Musa’s employment from it’s service without a just cause and without due process of law was unlawful, illegal, unconstitutional and of no legal effect.
Consequently the court granted an order reinstating Musa to his employment with the NECO and to the position or rank he ought to be at the judgment date.
After listening to both parties Justice Anuwe held that the termination of Mr. Musa’s employment was done in breach of provisions of the NECO Staff Regulation and in violation of his right to fair hearing.
The judge noted that Musa was not queried for the allegation for which his employment was terminated and as such, he never had the chance to reply to the allegation.
The Court held that Musa’s employment cannot be terminated without strict compliance with the terms and conditions applicable to his employment and granted the reliefs sought.
The Court held that Mr. Musa was not served any query where the allegation of “abscondment from office” or contravention of Rules 030301(o) and 030401 of the PSR was made against him prior to the termination of his employment, and the Management Committee did not investigate the allegation of abscondment from office against Mr. Musa.
Consequently, The court ordered NECO to reinstate him and him all his arrears of salaries, allowances, benefits and other entitlements from 5th November 2021 when his employment was terminated till date and awarded the sum of N1,000,000 against the NECO as general damages and N200,000 cost of action within 30 days.
Mr. Musa who is the claimant, told the court that he was issued a query by NECO on August 13, 2021 of which he replied to, the next day.
He said at the completion of the 2021 SSCE examination, he was issued another query upon his return to NECO headquarters on September 15, 2021.
The second query accused him of misconduct which contravened Rule 030102 of the Public Service Rules.
He said no staff Disciplinary Committee was set up by NECO regarding the queries and allegations against him.
He said his employment was terminated even without bringing him before any Disciplinary/Administrative Panel.
he said NECO had cited abscondment from office as the reason for his dismissal. He therefore approached the court for redress.
NECO, in it’s defense argued that they terminated Mr Musa’s employment in accordance with the rule of law and public service rules.
They asked the court to dismiss the case in its entirety.
Mr. Musa, through his lawyer argued that none of the 2 queries served on him were on the allegation of abscondment from office for which his employment was terminated, and urged the court to grant the reliefs sought.
There are rules of law regulating how an employer or employee can terminate an employment.
According to Sections 11(6) and (9) of the Labour Act, either the employer or employee can terminate the employment by giving the other party the requisite notice or payment of salary in lieu of notice.
Just like a regular contract, both parties have the right to bring the contract to an end at any time. However, the appropriate notice must be given. So, where there is a termination of employment without following these rules, it will amount to unlawful termination of employment.
Before an employer terminates employment, the employer must comply with the procedure as stated in the employment contract. The employer must also provide a valid and justifiable reason.
If the employer does not comply with these rules, the employer can be sued for wrongful dismissal. The employee can sue the employer and demand compensation or reinstatement.
Where the termination of the employment is because of the performance or conduct of the employee, the employee must be given the opportunity to defend himself where allegations are made against him.
