Abuja – The National Industrial Court, Abuja, on Wednesday affirmed the dismissal of one Abdulazeez Lafiya, from Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University, Lapai.
Lafiya was dismissed on grounds of misconduct, nonchalant attitude to work and absence from duty without permission.
Justice Rakiya Haastrup, said the claimant challenged his dismissal as unlawful on the grounds that he was not accorded fair hearing.
Haastrup held that the evidence before the court, proved that the terms and conditions of employment of the claimant as contained in the Regulations governing the condition of appointment and service of senior staff of IBB University, Lapai ,was followed in the dismissal of the claimant.
She added that the claimant failed to tender his employment letter which would have assisted the court to know under what terms, conditions he was employed and how the defendant breached such terms to entitle him to the reliefs he sought.
“All evidence adduced by the claimant under cross examination on the antecedents of his appointment and employment status, would only amount to mere stories so to speak in the absence of any documentary evidence.
“The claimant for best reasons known to him failed to present the terms and conditions of employment before this court, and this I think is fatal to his case”, the judge held.
The judge also said that evidence before the court was contrary to the claimant’s assertion that he was not accorded fair hearing before his dismissal.
She said there were several queries which the claimant responded to, and he also appeared before disciplinary committee and it was the committee’s report that indicted and recommended his dismissal.
“It is clear that the claimant was given opportunities to defend himself on the allegations against him, contrary to his assertion that he was not accorded fair hearing.
” His grouse is that his dismissal was not in line with Section 6 (1) (d) (I) (2) of the Regulations governing the condition of appointment, which he did not tender before the court, but the defendant did.
“The defendant in my humble view acted in accordance with the Regulations governing the condition of appointment conditions which stipulates dismissal for offence like gross .ccn. of absconding from duty and nonchalant attitude to work, which the claimant was indicted for,” the judge said.
She also held that there was no evidence before the court brought by the claimant sufficient to support his claim of unlawful dismissal.
The judge said that all the reliefs sought by the claimant in the suit, failed in its entirety and accordingly dismissed the suit.
The claimant’s counsel, E. Abdulazeez, had urged the court to declare his client’s dismissal as unlawful, reinstate and pay his salaries and allowances from the time of his dismissal in 2016 until judgment.
Abdulazeez also sought payment of general damages to the tune of N5 million for his client.
Joined in the suit as co-defendants were The Registrar and Governing Council, IBB University.(NAN)
