His Lordship, Hon. Justice Zaynab Bashir of the National Industrial Court of Nigeria, Lokoja Judicial division on Wednesday 21th day of March 2018 delivered judgment against MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT & NATURAL RESOURCES, KOGI STATE declared as wrongful the employment termination of Forest Guards not in accordance with the Public Service Rules.
The Claimants commenced this suit via a General Form of Complaint dated and filed the 12th April, 2017 Claiming from the defendants jointly and severally inter alia for A DECLARATION that the Claimants are Civil Servants in the service of Kogi State Government and are entitled to salaries, allowances and trainings for the effective performance of their duties as Forest Guards and AN ORDER for the payment of salaries and allowances of the Claimants.
The case of the Claimants is that they were appointed as Forest Guards vide identical letters of appointment with reference No.KG/MENR/OFF/173/27 dated 27th November, 2015 signed by the Permanent Secretary of the 1st Defendant. The said letters of appointment were accepted by the Claimants and they assumed duty as directed in the letters of appointment.
During the interview prior to the appointments of the Complainants which 2nd Defendant was represented, the 1st Defendant officials informed the Claimants that successful candidates would undergo training however the salaries and allowances of the Claimants have not been paid since December 2015 and training were not organized for them.
The Claimants alleged that the Defendants commenced process of appointment of another set of Forest Guards in February, 2017 and have trained the new set of Forest Guards excluding the Claimants whose appointments were first in time.
The Claimants maintain that their appointments is governed by civil service Rules and other government instruments and they were never issued any query, warning or disciplined since their assumption of duty on 1st December, 2015.
The case for the Defendants is that for the sake of employment, successful candidates were shortlisted and interviewed. The claimants were offered provisional appointment as forest guards subject to certain terms & conditions clearly stated in their letters of provisional appointment and the claimants accepted the provisional appointment but no files were opened for the claimants at the 1st defendant’s Ministry.
Afterwards, the claimants were disengaged in January, 2016 by the Governor of Kogi State through an executive order during the probationary period in line with the terms and conditions of their provisional appointment while the defendants appointed another set of forest guards in February, 2017 and have since trained them. The Defendants further stated that the suit against them is frivolous, misdirected and should be dismissed with cost.
After reviewing the argument of the parties, the Court Presided by Hon. Justice Zaynab Bashir, expressed thus:
I have painstakingly evaluated and understood all the processes filed by learned Counsel for the parties in this suit. I have reviewed the testimonies of the witnesses called on oath, watched their demeanor and carefully evaluated all the exhibits tendered and admitted.
“Employment with statutory backing must be terminated in the way and manner prescribed by that statute, and any other manner of termination inconsistent with the relevant statute is null and void and of no effect.”
Going by the above authority, it is evident that the procedure for terminating a provisional appointment in the instant suit is not in accordance with the Public Service Rules and I so hold.
On the whole, it is crystal clear that the termination of the employment of the claimants did not follow the statutory procedure. I am convinced that the claimants have proven their case. I find in the final analysis that the termination of the Claimant’s employment was improper, unlawful, null and void. It is trite that where there is an improper removal of an employee from an employment protected by statute, the consequence is that the employee has not been removed from office. In other words, once dismissal or termination of employment is declared null and void, there is nothing standing in the way of the Claimants from having their jobs back with its attendant rights, benefits and privileges.
