N2.5bn debt: ABU, dismissed employees to explore out-of-court settlement

The national industrial court has fixed January 17, 2023, for report on an out-of-court settlement between Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, and 110 dismissed employees.

The appointments of the 110 ABU workers were terminated in 1996.

They went to court in 2012 after recommendations by several committees, which suggested that they be restored and receive payment of their entitlements, did not yield any result.

The court ruled in favour of the dismissed staff in 2015 and ordered the university to reinstate them and pay their entitlements, which amounted to N2.5 billion.

Non-compliance with the court judgment necessitated a garnishee order on the institution’s bank accounts in 2017.

However, when the garnishee proceedings were ongoing, the judgment debtors filed for a stay of proceedings as they had filed an appeal before the appeal court in November 2018, contesting the 2015 judgment.

The court of appeal, on May 24, 2021, dismissed the case and affirmed the decision of the lower court.

The industrial court, on January 27, 2022, through a ruling, made an order absolute directing the CBN to pay the dismissed employees. 

At the court session on Tuesday, Femi Adedeji, counsel to the dismissed ABU workers, told the court that parties in the suit have decided to settle out of court.

He said parties have agreed to have a joint meeting and, therefore, prayed the court for an adjournment to enable parties meet and return with a report of settlement.

Abubakar Is’haq, ABU’s counsel, affirmed Adedeji’s submission that both sides have agreed to the meeting in order to resolve some of the contending issues.

Is’haq said he had filed a motion stating that the institution had released some money to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Is’haq added that Adedeji needed to respond to the motion by way of counter to raise some of the contending issues.

Adedeji, on his part, informed the court that aside from the monetary claim, another issue was on reinstatement of his clients as directed by the court in its judgment, which the institution had not complied with.

Rakiya Haastrup, the judge, in her ruling, directed Adedeji to respond to the motion by the ABU counsel.

She adjourned the matter until January 17, 2023, for report on settlement.

The court had, in an earlier ruling on May 17, ordered CBN to pay the sum of N2.5 billion in a garnishee proceeding order nissi which was made order absolute.

This was after CBN sought for a stay of execution, which was granted on the condition that the judgment sum be paid into an interest-yielding account opened in the court registrar’s name.

The court clarified that for the stay of execution application to take effect, that CBN must comply with the directive of the court by making the deposit of the judgment sum.