The National Industrial Court of Nigeria, Lagos Judicial Division, has declared that some former employees of United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA) were constructively dismissed, ordering the bank to use insurance proceeds to clear outstanding personal loans taken by the affected staff before their sacking.
Justice Ikechi Gerald Nweneka delivered the judgment on Thursday, November 13, 2025, in Suit No. NICN/LA/286/2020, instituted by Adeniji Funmilayo Foyekemi, Russel Oiaya Ilueminisen, Nkem Ben-Ofuokwu, Francis Jegede, Okoro Odinaka Theresa, Umeh Chidi Christopher, Helen Omu, Falode Esther Adesola, Aina Ajibola Ayodeji, Hosu Stephen Jogbenayon, Ogunremi Titilayo, Chizoba Christine Reuben, Dada Faith Oluwatosin, Musa Kaseem Akanji, Fasanaya Oluwatoyin Mary, Maria Nneka Nwodo, Ayantuinbo Abiola, Henry Chibuzor Onuigbo, Onyibo Obianuju Ngozika and Oludare Falope against United Bank for Africa Plc.
In his ruling, Justice Nweneka held that the claimants were unlawfully forced out of their jobs, stating: “I found that the Claimants were constructively dismissed by the Defendant… and hold that this claim has been established and is granted.”
The court, however, rejected the claim that the personal loans issued to the workers between August and December 2019 were exploitative, ruling: “I found in this judgment that the loans given to the Claimants are not unconscionable or oppressive… and hold that this claim has not been established and is denied.”
On the fate of the loans following the mass sacking, the judge ordered the bank to activate the insurance cover attached to the facilities.
According to the judgment, “since the Claimants involuntarily lost their jobs… the Defendant is ordered to use the insurance proceeds to pay off the outstanding loans.”
The court dismissed the request for payment of salaries from the date of dismissal to judgment, noting that “an employee whose employment has been terminated cannot treat the contract as still valid and sue for wages for services that were never rendered.”
Justice Nweneka also declined the N400 million claim for breach of contract and wrongful termination, holding that the workers had already received their terminal benefits, including salary in lieu of notice, and that “there is no evidence to support the assertion that the terminal benefits were incorrectly calculated.”
On allegations that UBA failed to remit National Housing Fund deductions, the court acknowledged shortcomings in the bank’s evidence but still dismissed the claim, ruling that it was special damages claim which “must be specifically pleaded and proved,” adding that “the pleading and evidence of the deductions are lacking.”
However, the court ruled in favour of the claimants on the issue of employment references, stating that “since it has been determined that the outstanding loans are to be settled with insurance proceeds, the Defendant has a responsibility to provide work references for the Claimants.”
The claim for N10 million in damages for defamation was dismissed, with the judge holding that “the Claimants have not proven defamation.”
Although the court declined to award N10 million as cost of action, it awarded N750,000 against UBA, stressing that “costs follow the event in litigation.”
In conclusion, Justice Nweneka ruled: “Reliefs 1, 3, 7, and 9 are granted, Reliefs 2, 4, 5, 6, and 8 are dismissed.”
The judgment follows an earlier SaharaReporters report in 2020, when the sacked UBA workers approached the court, alleging that the bank “capriciously availed them loans as early as December 2019 to surreptitiously take back what will be due to them as terminal benefits.”
They told the court that “resignation was a condition precedent to being paid terminal benefits,” adding that they “later discovered that they were already exited from the bank before they were asked to resign.”
The workers further alleged that UBA “perfected the mass sacking before surreptitiously compelling them to resign to deny many of them their terminal benefits through loans availed them a few weeks before the sack.”
