The Lagos division of the National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN) has declared the dismissal of Mr. Festus Osaje Osemobor, by Union Bank Plc, was illegal, wrongful and unlawful.
Justice Maureen N. Esowe, apart from declaring Osemobor, a former manager with the bank dismissal illegal, wrongful and unlawful, null and void, also ordered the bank to pay his withheld gratuity and cost of instituting suit.
In making the above orders, Justice Esowe in a judgment delivered on April 30, 2026, in the suit marked NICN/LA/258/2018, held that Union Bank failed to follow its own disciplinary procedures before dismissing Osemobor, who had served the bank for nearly two decades.
Osemobor, who joined the bank in August 1993 as a clerk and later rose to become Branch Manager of the Oghara Branch, through his lawyer, Barrister Paul I. Omoijiade, had challenged his dismissal in court after being accused of authorizing diesel expenditure without obtaining the required approvals while serving as Relief Head of Operations at the bank’s Dawson Road Branch in Benin City.
The claimant had argued that he was never formally queried or given an opportunity to defend himself before his dismissal in July 2012. He sought declarations that his dismissal was unlawful, payment of gratuity, pension benefits, redundancy benefits, damages, interest, and litigation costs.
In urging the court to dismiss the suit, the bank through its lawyer, Felix O. Ogungbemi, however, maintained that an email sent to Osemobor in November 2011, by an internal audit officer constituted a query and that the claimant was dismissed for gross misconduct after investigations revealed unauthorized expenditure totaling N519, 014.
In a detailed judgment, Justice Esowe rejected the bank’s position, holding that the email relied upon by the defendant did not amount to a formal query. While observed that the communication merely sought information and lacked the tone, content, and disciplinary character required of a query under the bank’s Employee Handbook.
The judge emphasized that dismissal is a serious sanction, particularly for an employee who had worked for almost 20 years, and that employers must strictly comply with established disciplinary procedures before taking such action.
The court further found that Union Bank failed to disclose the specific allegations against the claimant or provide evidence that he was afforded a fair hearing before his dismissal.
Justice Esowe also criticized the bank’s reliance on what it described as a 2004 amendment to its Trust Deed governing gratuity payments, describing the alleged amendment as unproven and unsupported by credible evidence. Adding that the bank failed to establish the existence of the amendment and concluded that it had attempted to rely on it to defeat the claimant’s entitlement.
Consequently, the court declared the dismissal wrongful and illegal, held that the bank remained in arrears of gratuity owed to Osemobor, and ordered payment of the gratuity with a cumulative interest of 10 percent.
The court however, rejected claims that the dismissal amounted to redundancy and dismissed the claimant’s demand for pension payments, holding that pension matters fall within the responsibility of the claimant’s Pension Fund Administrator.
The court nevertheless directed that any pension shortfall arising from unremitted contributions should be settled by the bank.
The court also declined to award damages but ordered Union Bank to pay N500,000 as litigation costs to the claimant, noting that the suit would not have arisen if proper procedures had been followed.
