The National Industrial Court sitting in Port Harcourt has ordered the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) to immediately deploy six employees recruited in its 2019 employment exercise, declaring that their appointments remain valid despite the commission’s refusal to assign them duties, pay their salaries or formally terminate their employment for more than five years.
In a judgment delivered by Justice Buhari Sani in Suit No. NICN/PH/54/2024, the court held that the claimants established a valid contract of employment with the NDDC and ruled that the commission’s refusal to deploy and remunerate them amounted to a breach of contract and an unfair labour practice.
The successful claimants are Daddy Clinton Mene, Kingsley Oyintudugowei Koya, Phebe Asanga, Beveline Alafuro Biambo, Florence K. Njoku Bonnie and Testimony Oroma Okeokwo.
The claimants told the court that they applied for employment during the NDDC’s 2019 recruitment exercise, successfully passed the examinations, interviews and screening, and were subsequently issued letters of appointment.
They said they complied with all conditions attached to their appointments by undergoing medical examinations, submitting the required documents and accepting the offers before reporting to the commission’s Human Resources Department for deployment.
According to them, rather than being posted to their duty stations, they were repeatedly instructed to return home and await deployment letters.
They maintained that despite several visits to the commission’s offices and letters of appeal addressed to the NDDC’s leadership in February 2023, they were never deployed or paid salaries, even though some other persons recruited in the same exercise resumed work.
The claimants consequently sought declarations that their employment remained valid, orders compelling the NDDC to deploy them and pay all outstanding salaries, allowances, promotions and other benefits, as well as damages for the hardship, emotional distress and embarrassment they suffered.
The NDDC, however, denied employing the claimants, insisting that the appointment letters they relied upon were forged and fabricated.
It further argued that it did not advertise vacancies in 2019 as alleged and that the claimants’ names did not appear in its employment records or payroll.
The commission also relied on a disclaimer warning members of the public against fraudulent recruitment advertisements.
Justice Sani rejected the commission’s arguments and held that the letters of appointment issued to the claimants constituted valid offers of employment.
He further held that although the claimants did not tender written acceptance letters before the court, their conduct in undergoing medical examinations, completing documentation and presenting themselves for deployment clearly amounted to acceptance of the offers.
The judge also rejected the NDDC’s attempt to distinguish between a letter of appointment and a letter of employment, holding that there is no legal distinction between the two. He further ruled that the commission could not rely on its own refusal to deploy the claimants as a basis for contending that they failed to assume duty.
The court equally dismissed the commission’s allegation that the appointment letters were forged, holding that such a serious allegation required credible evidence, which the NDDC failed to produce.
Justice Sani also expunged from the court’s record the disclaimer notice tendered by the NDDC, holding that the document was unsigned, hearsay and therefore devoid of any probative value.
Relying on an earlier decision of the National Industrial Court in Fubara v. NDDC, which arose from the same 2019 recruitment exercise, the judge held that the claimants’ employment subsists because it had never been lawfully terminated.
Describing the commission’s treatment of the claimants as “reprehensible” and “a waste of human resources,” the court held that leaving them in uncertainty for over five years constituted an unfair labour practice and violated their right to work and earn a living.
The court consequently declared that the employment of all six claimants remains valid and ordered the NDDC to immediately deploy them to their designated offices.
It also directed the commission to pay all outstanding salaries, allowances, promotions, increments and other entitlements due from the dates of their appointments until the date of judgment and their formal deployment.
Specifically, the court awarded the first claimant, Daddy Clinton Mene, N14,913,044.95 as salary arrears, together with all accrued promotions and allowances, and N5 million as damages for emotional shock, embarrassment and stress.
Each of the remaining five claimants was awarded N3,347,338.45 as salary arrears, all applicable promotions and allowances, and N3 million each as damages.
Justice Sani further directed the NDDC to compute and pay all salaries, entitlements and emoluments accruing to the claimants from August 2024 until the date of judgment and their eventual deployment.
The commission was ordered to comply with the judgment within 30 days, failing which the judgment sums will attract interest at the rate of 10 per cent per annum until fully paid.
The court also awarded N500,000 as costs against the NDDC in favour of the claimants.
