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The Presiding Judge, Jos Judicial Division of the National Industrial Court, Hon. Justice Ibrahim Galadima has ordered the Nigerian Electricity Supply Corporation to assess and pay Omowunmi her long service gratuity according to the current scale at the time of her last contract renewal, subtracting any amounts already received from her Retirement Savings Account within 30 days.
Justice Galadima held that since the Nigerian Electricity Supply Corporation did not remove the provision for long service gratuity from Omowunmi's various contract renewal letters throughout her 15 years of service, the court will not alter that contract term.
From facts, the claimant- Omowunmi had submitted that her employment was renewed multiple times until it was terminated in 2020, and all efforts to get her long service gratuity from the Nigerian Electricity Supply Corporation were to no avail.
Omowunmi stated that she received a total of N4,527,474.00 (Four Million, Five Hundred and Twenty-Seven Thousand, Four Hundred and Seventy-Four Naira) as compensation for her 12 months of service and other allowances. However, she claimed that she was not given her long-service gratuity, which was supposed to be paid upon the termination of her employment.
In defence, the defendant- Nigerian Electricity Supply Corporation averred that the internal long-service gratuity scheme was discontinued following the government's introduction of the uniform pension scheme and that its current staff gratuity scheme applies only to employees hired before 2007 who have worked for at least five years, which, according to the defendant, Mrs. Omowunmi did not qualify for.
The Nigerian Electricity Supply Corporation asserts that Omowunmi, who served as a personnel manager and a former director within the company, is aware that the long service gratuity associated with her employment was altered following the adoption of the Pension Reform Act of 2004 (as amended) by the defendant.
The defendant's counsel further argues that since Omowunmi participated in the meeting where the decision to transition to the Pension Reform Act was made, she effectively consented to this migration, thereby altering the terms of her contract.
In opposition, Omowumi’s counsel, Yetunde Nze Esq argued that her client's employment is not permanent but a renewable contract every two years based on satisfactory performance, rather than ending upon reaching retirement age or due to misconduct.
The Counsel argued that Omowunmi's attendance at the meeting where the transition to the Uniform Pension Scheme was discussed does not alter the written contract terms, and urged the Court to grant the reliefs sought.
In a well-considered judgment after careful evaluation of the submission of both parties through their adumbration and exhibits tendered, the presiding Judge, Justice Ibrahim Galadima, reiterated that anyone seeking a court judgment regarding a claimed legal right or liability based on certain facts must provide proof that those facts exist.
The Court stated that more than a year after the decision to transition employees to the Pension Reform scheme, Omowumi’s renewal letter still indicates "no change" regarding the entitlement to long service gratuity.
Justice Galadima vehemently disagreed with the Nigerian Electricity Supply Corporation's assertion that the shift to a uniform pension scheme was incorporated into the Omowunmi employment contract, as there is no evidence before the court suggesting even slightly that any subsequent service renewal letters indicated the removal of the long service gratuity from Omowunmi’s entitlements.
The Court declared the argument of the Nigerian Electricity Supply Corporation that Omowunmi did not inform them of the discrepancy between her contract renewal letters and the current uniform pension scheme as unconvincing, and the reality remains that while contributions were being made to the claimant's RSA, her entitlement to long-service gratuity was consistently confirmed in her contract renewal letters until her employment was terminated.
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