After much legal fireworks, lasting over seven years, the National Industrial Court, Lagos Division, has finally granted an order compelling the Bank of Industry (BOI) Limited to reinstate Mr Sonny Ekedayen as the Assistant General Manager of the bank with immediate effect.
Hon. Justice R. H. Gwandu in his ruling also ordered that BOI pay Ekedayen his full salary and allowances from the day he was illegally dismissed from the bank.
In a lawsuit marked: NICN/LA/569/2015, Ekedayen had prayed the court to grant an order of perpetual injunction restraining the 1st Defendant in the case — former Managing Director of BOI, Mr Rasheed Olaoluwa from compelling and/or forcing him to either resign or go into voluntary early retirement.
Olaoluwa was the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer at Bank of Industry between May 2014 and February 2016, hence, superintended over the illegal dismissal of Ekedayen from his position in 2015.
Narrating his ordeals before the court, Ekedayen said Olaoluwa on November 20, 2015 without cause ordered him to retire from his position as the Assistant General Manager of the BOI, Nigeria’s oldest and leading Development Bank.
Ekedayen, through his lead counsel, Mr Abimbola Akeredolu (SAN) and his legal team had informed the court that he had only served for 12 years in BOI when his employment at the bank was forcefully terminated without recourse to the terms of employment contract and BOI’s condition of service which gave compulsory retirement age for every employee of the bank as 60 years of age or 35 years in service, whichever comes first. Ekedayen told the court he had only clocked 50 years of age as at the time his appointment with the bank was prematurely terminated.
Back-and-forth legal fireworks in court between the plaintiff’s lead counsel, Akeredolu (SAN) and the defendants’ legal team led by T.A.B Oladipo (SAN) had lasted for over seven years before the landmark judgement was delivered in the lawsuit.
In a Certified True Copy of the judgement sighted by The New Diplomat, the Presiding Judge, Hon. Justice Gwandu of the National Industrial Court, in his ruling on Thursday, December 8, held that Olaoluwa and the BOI unlawfully relieved Ekedayen of his job at the bank, ordering that the claimant be reinstated with immediate effect.
Justice Gwandu in his ruling continued: “Also, as a consequential order, for the avoidance of doubt and ambiguity, I hereby order that following from order setting aside the termination letter, the claimant is to be reinstated forthwith and his salaries and allowances paid from the date of the purported termination till today.
“Failure to pay same will be treated as contempt to this Honourable Court Order and will attract a 10% per annum interest until it is fully liquidated.”
