The National Industrial Court (NIC), Lagos has ordered Ecobank Nigeria Limited to pay the sum of N1, 086,611,589.11 to 1,742 ex-staff of Oceanic Bank who were denied their legitimate entitlements.

Justice R. A. Gwandu gave the order while delivering judgment in a suit marked NIC/LA/231/2012, filed by 1,742 ex-employees of the defunct bank, which merged with Ecobank Bank in 2012.

Mr Nwabu Okoye, who is counsel to the claimants, filed the suit on their behalf. The claimants are Mr Babajide Bayode, Yemisi Adesote, Adeboyejo Oladimeji, Seun Aina, Yusuf Kadiri, Segun Alasan, Adetayo Familugba and Lolade Olaribigbe, who said they sued for themselves and in a representative capacity for the 1,733 others.

They had prayed the court to direct the defendant to pay the outstanding sum of N1,146,470,393,.62 being the sum of their savings in the Staff Savings Investment Trust Fund (SSITF) scheme they contributed.

The funds, they claimed, were transferred to Ecobank upon the merger of the two banks on February 15, 2012 and those whose employment was determined before or upon the said merger remained unpaid till date.

The claimants in their statement of claim said the amount outstanding as their contributions to the SSITF scheme, which the defendant has refused to pay to date stands at N926,901,065,.60.

They also asked the court for an order directing the defendant to pay the sum of N159,710,523.51 the total sum due as gratuities to 48 of the claimants and another sum of N59,858,804,51 being the short payments of severance or redundancy paid by the defendant to 74 of them, among other prayers.

The defendant through its counsel, S.C. Arubike filed a counterclaim, demanding N967,529,765.38 being the excess of severance and/or redundancy benefits paid to the claimants.

In his judgment, Justice R.A. Gwandu dismissed its defence and counterclaim on the ground that the bank failed to put credible evidence before the court. The judge held that upon the consummation of the merger, Ecobank had fully acquired all the assets and liabilities of Oceanic Bank and could not repudiate or push some of the liabilities on its employees, more so when it was the bank that was in control of the SSITF scheme.

The judge further held that the defendant cannot deny that there were contributions to the SSITF or show evidence that the claimants were paid the sum they claimed.

Culled From The Guardian