Sacked CBN Workers to Know Fate July 9

Sanusi Lamido, CBN Governor
By Onyewuchi Ojinnaka 


Aggrieved ex-workers of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) who are in Appeal Court, Lagos to challenge the decision of the High Court delivered against them in respect of their disengagement during the rationalization exercise by the apex bank in 1996 and 1998 respectively will know their fate on July 9, 2012. 

The Court of Appeal will on this date deliver judgement on the appeal filed by about 1,132 retrenched workers of the apex bank seeking to reverse the decision of the Federal High Court delivered by Justice Rebecca Ohomojobi. 

The presiding judge, Justice K.B Akaahs fixed the date after Mr. Fred Agbaje, counsel to the appellants and Chief E.A. Oshe (SAN) counsel to  the respondents had adopted their written addresses.   
                                                       
Justice Ohomojobi of the Federal High Court had in her ruling refused to order for the reinstatement of the workers whose employments were terminated by the CBN as a result of the rationalization exercise it carried out in 1996 and 1998 on the orders of the military administration of late General Sani Abacha.
However, three issues formulated by the sacked workers were resolved in their favour but the judge went ahead to dismiss the suit by declaring that the suit was 'statute barred' (filed out of time), adding that she could not order for their re-instatement because their employment did not enjoy statutory flavour. 

Urging the court to uphold the appeal of the appellants, Agbaje argued that it was wrong for the lower court to go back to the issue of statute barred which had already been decided by the Court of Appeal on July 19, 2004 when, while ruling on a preliminary objection filed by the CBN, declared that the matter was not statute barred. He further said that the trial court having already resolved all the issues in favour of the applicants, including its declaration that the directive of the Federal Government to the CBN which led to the termination of appointments of the workers, violates the contract of employment as well as the CBN Act, should have gone ahead to nullify the entire rationalization exercise.    
   
Citing the case of a recent Supreme Court judgement involving the CBN and its former employee, Dr. Victor Igwillo, delivered on May 4, 2007, it was confirmed that employment of all CBN staff enjoyed statutory flavour and as such, due process and the relevant regulatory provisions must be followed in the determination of appointment of each CBN staff.              

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