The National Industrial Court sitting in Abuja has directed the immediate reinstatement of Mrs. Victoria Ayantuga.
Ayantuga is the Assistant General Manager at the Nigerian Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) before her suspension.
Equally, the court directed immediate reinstatement and the payment of all outstanding salaries, increments, and allowances dating back to Ayantuga’s suspension in July 2020.
The court made the order in a suit marked NICN/ABJ/223/2021 which was instituted on August 27th 2021 by Mrs Ayantuga, where she challenged her dismissal by NSITF as unlawful.
Mrs. Ayantuga and some of her colleagues were unlawfully suspended by the agency two years ago and their employment was terminated from NSITF in June 1st 2021 on the pages of newspapers.
Dissatisfied with the unlawful suspension and dismissal, Ayantuga approached the court and it triggered a lengthy legal battle that finally ended in her favor.
In his judgment delivered on the 31st of March 2023 in Abuja, Justice Ayodele Obaseki Osaghae held: “Ayantuga’s dismissal is unlawful, illegal, null and void, and of no effect whatsoever. It is hereby set aside.”
The court declared further that the action of NSITF Management Board and former Minister of Labor & Employment, Chris Ngige in dismissing the staff contravened the provisions of Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund Act, and Staff Conditions of Service.
Justice Osaghae in her ruling stated: “It is pertinent to state that the facts deposed to by the claimant in the supporting affidavit to the originating summons are unchallenged by the defendants, therefore it is accepted, correct and acted on by the court.
“Based on the fact and evidence presented before the court, on March 31st, 2023, the court issued a comprehensive judgment that left no room for ambiguity.”
Several other declarations as pronounced by the
court are that Ayantuga’s employment with the NSITF is still valid and she is entitled to all her remuneration and entitlements from the organisation.
The court held: “The court hereby declared and ordered immediate reinstatement of Mrs Victoria Ayantuga into the service of Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund, specifically to place her on the appropriate rank/grade level she would have been, but for the wrongful dismissal with all the rights and privileges she is entitled to, and with no loss of seniority, rank, or grade level.”
Source: Blueprints
