The National Industrial Court in Abuja has ruled in favour of Mr. Abdulazeez Ibrahim, a former employee and Deputy Manager of Zenith Bank Plc, who sued the bank for wrongful dismissal. The ruling has awarded Abdulazeez a compensation of N42.8 million ($214,536) payable by the bank.
This development comes after he had taken legal action against the bank, disputing the decision of its management to terminate his appointment over an alleged N7 billion ($35 million) fraud. It said fraud was alleged to have been carried out by a collective group within the bank.
According to a report by local newspaper Punch, the presiding judge, Justice O. Shogbola, in his judgement, awarded N42 million ($210,526) in favour of the plaintiff to cover for salaries, allowances and interests to the plaintiff for the period of his suspension and subsequent sacking by the bank. “The claimant is therefore entitled to his salary from August 6, 2010 to March 8, 2013, as he was still in the employment of the defendant. The disciplinary committee concluded the investigation since June 14, 2010 and recommended the claimant’s appointment be terminated,” read the justice’s judgement.
Justice Shogbola advised the bank not to be hasty when taking such decisions regarding its staff based solely suspicion. “While it is appreciated that the defendant cannot be denied the right to investigate the N7 billion fraud which they claimed was stolen, caution must, however, be taken not to rubbish every staff member of the bank on mere suspicion.”
A copy of the judgement delivered, which was obtained on Sunday, was delivered on February 16, 2015. This revealed that Ibrahim was suspended from work on August 6, 2010 and eventually sacked in March 2013 without salary. The judge instructed that additional allowances and interest be paid at the exact rate from when his appointment was terminated.
This would also include the payment of a month’s salary to compensate termination without notice from either party as stated in the contractual agreement. Nigeria’s largest bank will definitely learn a lesson or two from this experience.
