His Lordship, Hon. Justice Isaac Essien of the National Industrial Court sitting in Lagos has ordered Lagos State Government, Its Attorney General and Teachers Establishment and Pension Office to compute and pay Mrs Lois Kaliyo all her salaries’ arrears as a level 17 officer in the Lagos State Civil Service from May 2016 to October 2020 for the period he was prematurely retired from service.

The Court held that it was an improper exercise of power for the Teachers Establishment and Pension Office to have ignored the response from the Rivers State Senior Secondary School Board that confirmed clearly that Kaliyo Sira was employed effectively from 1st November 1985, not 1981; awarded the sum of Five Hundred Thousand Naira cost of action against the Lagos State government.

From facts, the claimant – Mrs Lois Kaliyo had submitted that she was given a temporary appointment which lasted for four (4) months by the Rivers State dated 1st April 1981. That she completed her education and got a fresh appointment as a teacher with the Rivers State Ministry of Education in November 1985 and later transferred her service to Lagos State in 1986.

She contended that if the Lagos State Government has taken 11th November 1985 as clarified by the Rivers State Government as her date of the first appointment that she would not have been prematurely retired from service in 2016 instead of 2020, urged the court to grant the reliefs sought.

In defence, Lagos State Government posited that Mrs Lois presented two letters of employment dated 1st April 1981 and 11th November 1985 and was not offered fresh appointment in 1985, maintained that Lois confirmed her date of appointment to be 1st April 1981 in the entries she made in the State Active Resource data in 2013; that she was retired as per the civil service rule urged the court to dismiss the matter for lacking merit.

Delivering the Judgment, the Presiding Judge, Justice Isaac Essien held that the letter of temporary appointment issued to Mrs Lois dated 1st April 1981 was a ‘temporary appointment’ and was never confirmed by the Rivers State Government and as such was never intended to carry the strappings of a pensionable appointment.

“So long as that appointment was not confirmed, it could not have been reckoned with as part of the service period of the claimant for the purpose of determining the date of retirement, gratuity, and pension.

“The decision to use the 1/4/1981 as the date of the first appointment of the claimant was made without any justification.” Justice Essien. 

Lastly, the Court set aside the purported retirement dated 25/4/2016 that it does not reflect the true state of the claimant’s record of service.