N100m suit: Court to rule on 235 oil workers’ engagement

By -

(Nigeria) National Industrial Court sitting in the Awka, Anambra State, has adjourned till October 25, 2016 to rule on whether 235 workers unceremoniously laid off without sack letters, were engaged by oil and gas major, Chevron Nigeria Limited or four of the company’s contracting firms: JOCECO Nigeria Limited, Pat Onosen Nigeria Enterprises Limited, Sanco Calaya JV. Nigeria Limited and Hensteel Engr. & Construction Services Limited.
Trial judge, Justice W. Abali adjourned for ruling  after listening to arguments from counsel to Chevron, Mr Akpomudje Albert, SAN and counsel to the 235 aggrieved workers, Chief V. Otomiewo.
While the Chevron counsel, argued that the claimants’ case against Chevron was weak, because working in Chevron yard does not make them (235 workers) Chevron staff,  the workers lawyer  posited that the argument of Chevron lacks merit, noting that correspondences/agreements authenticating the workers’ engagements between the 1st to 4th defendants (the contracting firms) were with Chevron.
Otomiewo cited NICM/CM/760/2014, a case between Prof. Greg Nwakobi Vs Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka as reference, urging the judge to consider that judgment which was granted May 19, 2016 in giving his ruling, saying the test case was yet to be set aside.
The claimants’ counsel contended that the entitlements of the 235 workers were in Chevron’s possession and urged the court to order Chevron to release their financial entitlements totalling N100 million.
It will be recalled that the aggrieved workers, who claimed Chevron recruited them and sublet them to the contractors to pay them, had approached the court in 2015 seeking N100 million as compensation/damages over the alleged breach of contract.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

UBTH @50: Obaseki hails institution’s role in strengthening Edo healthcare

By -
Image
(Nigeria) Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State, has commended the staff and management of the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, UBTH, for their unwavering commitment, dedication, and hard work in providing high-quality healthcare services to the people of Edo State and Nigeria in the past fifty years. Obaseki, at a dinner organized in honour of the Committee of Chief Medical Directors of Nigeria, at the Government House, Benin City, reassured the government’s continuous partnership and collaboration with the federal government-owned health institution to strengthen the health system and ensure quality health delivery to Edo people. The governor, who was represented by his deputy, Philip Shaibu, reeled out the gains of the government’s reforms in the health sector, commending the medical centre for bolstering the government’s efforts at transforming Edo State into a health hub. He said, "We came into a wilderness where you have to cut a part for yourself and fix it. We held
Read more

NBC has no powers to impose fine on broadcast stations --Court

By -
Image
(Nigeria) The National Broadcasting Commission, NBC, has been restrained by a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, from imposing fines on broadcast stations in the country. Trial judge in the matter, Justice James Omotosho also set aside the N500,000 fines imposed on March 1, 2019, on each of 45 broadcast stations. The court made the orders in its judgment a suit by the Incorporated Trustees of Media Rights Agenda, MRA, which had sued the NBC. Justice Omotosho held that the NBC, not being a court of law, had no power to impose sanctions as punishment on broadcast stations. The court further held that the Nigeria Broadcasting Code, which gives the commission the power to impose sanction, is in conflict with Section 6 of the Constitution that vested judicial power in the court of law. He said the court would not sit idle and watch a body imposing fine arbitrarily without recourse to the law. He said that the commission did not comply with the law when it sat as a complainant and at
Read more