......Says
it is astonishing that a law firm of a silk can drag the legal profession into the
mud
The
Deputy General Manager, Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc, (NBET) Sambo
Abdullahi has debunked the story published by the Cable.ng that NBET has appeals against the court order on removed
internal auditor.
In
a right of reply sent to Swift Reporters,
Sambo Abdullahi said that the
letter dated 17th March, 2020, which was said to have come from
Babalakin & Co attached to the Cable.ng story bears no name of the author
which is against the tradition of lawyers.
He further said, “An x-ray of
Babalakin & Co’s letter shows a clear misrepresentation of fact on what
transpired between my good self and NBET and the judgement of the National Industrial
Court. It is astonishing that a law firm of a silk can drag the legal
profession into the mud. Abdullahi said
Excerpt
is the full text of the Right of reply:
Right
of Reply
RE:
NBET appeals against court order on removed internal auditor
You
reported a story on the appeal of the judgement delivered by Hon Justice
Oyejoju O. Oyewumi of the National Industrial Court on March 11, 2020, in suit
No-NICN/ABJ/349/2018 between Sambo Abdullahi (myself) vs Nigerian Bulk
Electricity Trading Plc (NBET), Dr Marilyn Amobi, Hon. Minister, Federal
Ministry of Power, Works and Housing and Federal Ministry of Power, Works and
Housing. After evaluating and analysing of the evidence before her, the judge
declared and ordered as follows:
1.
That the suspension of the claimant’s
salary and emoluments is wrongful
2.
That the refusal of his annual leave
for 2017 and 2018 is wrongful, and unfair labour practice and against
international best practice.
3.
That his claims for denial on access
to National Health Insurance Scheme benefits fails.
4.
That the second defendant (Dr. Marilyn
Amobi) lacks the vires to unilaterally suspend punish and/or withhold the
salary, emoluments and all other benefits accrued to the Claimant.
5.
That the Claimant is entitled to all
his salaries and emoluments and all other benefits accruable to him as staff of
the first defendant from 22nd December 2017 till today 11th
of March, 2020.
6.
The Claimant claim d fails.
7.
All sums awarded in this judgement is
to be paid within 30 days of this judgement, failure upon which it attracts 21%
interest thereon per annum.
I wish to note from the outset of this Right
of Reply that the letter dated 17th March, 2020, which was said to
have come from Babalakin & Co attached to your story bears no name of the
author. This is against the tradition of lawyers. I know very well that all
documents so generated in respect of my case by Babalakin & Co have names
and seal of lawyers who authored them, and they were properly signed and
sealed. This particular letter is suspect!
What I see on this particular letter is an
inscription, “Babalakin & Co” as signature. I want to believe that there is
no human being bearing Babalakin & Co.
NBET
acted on the advice of the law firm of Babalakin & Co in appealing
the judgment of the National Industrial Court delivered on the 11th
of March 2020, as contained in their letter attached to your story (https://www.thecable.ng/nbet-appeals-against-court-order-on-removed-internal-auditor/amp)
dated 17th March, 2020, addressed to the Managing Director, Nigerian
Bulk Electricity Trading Plc with attention: Dr Marilyn Amobi. An x-ray of
Babalakin & Co’s letter shows a clear misrepresentation of fact on what
transpired between my good self and NBET and the judgement of the National Industrial
Court. It is astonishing that a law firm of a silk can drag the legal
profession into the mud. For clarity and integrity, I will respond as follows
to the misrepresentation of facts as contained in the letter of Babalakin &
Co:
Background:
This grossly misrepresented facts and also concealed vital information on what
happened in the court. This paragraph failed to give the actual chronicle of
the fact of the case. As an appointed NBET head of internal audit, I flagged
serious irregularities in the dealings and transactions involving Dr Amobi
which she started barely 2 months of her resumption as MD/CEO. These
allegations have been confirmed by the EFCC, ICPC, BPP and Auditor General of
the Federation in their various reports widely published in both electronic and
print media indicting Dr Marilyn Amobi and exonerating me. (https://www.thecable.ng/exposed-how-nbet-md-raked-in-millions-through-fraudulent-contracts)
In
an attempt to get me traumatised through the office of the Accountant General
of the Federation who was Dr Amobi’s colleague at the defunct Continental
Merchant Bank, she redeployed me to Learning and Development unit which I
petitioned to then Hon Minister of Power, Works and Housing (the Supervising
Ministry). My salary and other emoluments were then stopped via a memo dated 27th
December, 2017, pending the outcome of my petition to the Hon Minister. This
was contained in the document tendered before the Court and not challenged by
either by Dr. Marilyn Amobi or her Counsel Babalakin & Co.
The
Ministry on 3 (three) separate occasions directed Dr Marilyn Amobi to rescind
her decision on stoppage of my salaries since the Ministerial Committee did not
find any wrongdoing on my part. Dr Marilyn Amobi defied the lawful directives
of the ministry and this necessitated the then Permanent Secretary (Power), Mr
Louis Edozien, to escalate the matter to the Office of the Secretary to the
Government of the Federation on 26th November, 2018, which till date
has not said anything on the matter. Because the OSGF kept mute on the matter
and the injurious act continued to the extent that my employment was
threatened, I approached the National Industrial Court as my last hope on the 7th
day of December, 2018.
Review of
Judgement- I was perturbed by paragraph 2.1.1 of Babalakin
& Co’s letter wherein it alleged that NBET Preliminary Objection
challenging the jurisdiction of the court on competency of the suit was not
ruled upon in the 11th March, 2020, Judgement of Hon. Justice Oyewumi.
This is not true as the decision of the Court is contained in page 13 of the
copy of the judgement attached to the story published by TheCable. Also,
Paragraph 2.1.2 of the same letter misconstrued and misinterpreted the Federal
Government Circular on dissolution of Board dated 14th August, 2015.
The said circular clearly directed all the Chief Executive Officers of
parastatals, NBET inclusive, to refer
all matters requiring the attention of the Board to the President through the
Permanent Secretary (PS) of their supervising ministry. For avoidance of
doubt, Dr Amobi since her assumption of office in August 2016 has been
complying strictly to this circular to the extent that she receives directives
from the PS (Power). It may interest you to note that as at 30th
December, 2016, a clear 19 months after the pioneer Board of NBET was
dissolved, Dr Amobi’s annual leave was sought and approved by PS (Power).
By
an email between Dr Amobi and PS (Power) in which I was copied, she
acknowledged and confirmed the supervisory role of the ministry of power over
NBET where she wrote “Thank you very
much for granting me the opportunity to have this 5 days working annual leave,
………. Sambo Abdullahi will be available to attend any engagement. He will also
steer forward strategies to implement any directives that you set out for
NBET. Of course, if there are things that statutorily I should not do
during this 5 days, and whilst I am on annual vacation, I am very confident
that Sambo will make appropriate decision that would promote the public interest
whilst being in the best interest of the organization. He comes highly
recommended”. (Emphasis are mine).
From
this paragraph and the findings of the court, it is a clear fact that Ministry
of Power has supervisory role over NBET. Dr Marilyn Amobi’s refusal to pay my
salaries despite the ministry’s directives is unconscionable act which was
supposed to have ended with the judgment of 11th March, 2020.
Lawyers
are supposed to be ministers in the temple of justice. As such, a lawyer is supposed
to advise his/her client without fear or favour truthfully. Paragraph 2.1.3 of
Babalakin & Co’s letter is another clear misrepresentation of what happened
in the court. The letter dated 20th March 2018 was admitted in court
as Exhibit SA18 and a clear preview of Babalakin & Co’s final written
address signed by one Olayinka I. Arasi Esq on behalf of NBET and Dr. Marilyn
Amobi, did not challenge or object to the admissibility of the document. Other
documents they challenged were succinctly dealt with by Hon. Justice Oyewumi in
her judgement. It beats my imagination for a lawyer who had in his address
confirmed that Exhibit SA18 was admissible to turn round and inform his client
that he objected to same, but the court did not rule on it. Court proceedings are
public documents. Dr. Marilyn
Amobi should do herself a favour by obtaining the Certified True Copy of the
proceedings and confirm the concocted stories bandied in the advice of
BABALAKIN & CO.
I
want to believe that the law firm of Babalakin & Co was ill briefed on the
issue of the alleged Disciplinary Hearing Committee (DHC) proceeding which was
orchestrated 12 months after the stoppage of my salary and other emoluments.
Babalakin & Co alleged in their letter that the DHC was diversionary as
same was constituted for an entirely different infraction(s).
It is important to appreciate the chronology of
events in NBET after the stoppage of my salaries to the setting up of the DHC.
The allegation being tried by the DHC were already in public domain months before
I was alleged to have divulged same.
The DHC committee were members of the NBET
Parastatal Tenders Board who are part of the approval of the fraudulent
activities I raised audit queries on which necessitated the stoppage of my
salaries and which was being investigated by anti-graft agencies then. The
complainant (Ms. Itohan Ehiede) was also part of the judges. There is nowhere
in the whole world you can be a judge in your own case.
In
fact, it was documented to the management that considering the composition of
the DHC membership, I cannot get fair hearing. Expectedly, two of the DHC members were
lawyers who ought to rightly recuse themselves having registered my fear of
denial of fair hearing via memos to the DHC. The DHC was also one characterised
by violation of the NBET Human Resources Policy Manual and other extant
circulars.
On
the issue of denial of annual leave, it is common sense and the practice in the
civil service that all leave should adhere to the policy of the organization.
For NBET, it is compulsory that I obtain the approval of my line manager before
proceeding on annual leave which I sought and secured from Mr Abba Aliyu, GM,
Project, Research, Learning and Development, contrary to when I was head of
internal audit where I was expected to obtain approval from Dr. Amobi who was
my line manager in that department.
The
leave for 2017 was approved by my line manager, but returned by Ms. Itohan
Ehiede (Head, Corporate Services) which prevented me from proceeding on the
leave till date. NOTE: Ms Itohan
Ehiede is not Abba Aliyu’s line manager. I was perturbed by the authority
exercised by Ms Itohan Ehiede over my leave till date. The court held
that this was wrongful.
Recommendations/
further steps: Paragraph 3.1.1 recommended to Dr.
Amobi to proceed on appeal based on the grounds debunked above. The suggested
recommendation for stay of execution was to further dehumanise me and my family
for exposing fraudulent activities running into billions of naira perpetrated
by Dr Marilyn Amobi.
Babalakin
& Co in paragraph 3.1.2 advised further that the new DHC
which Dr. Marilyn Amobi will set up should comply strictly with NBET Human Resources Policy Manual in
order not to give any room for a successful challenge of NBET’s action in court.
Paragraph 3.1.5 further advised that, I “may
be suspended with half or no pay” pending the endorsement of the DHC
recommendation to none existing NBET
Board Committee on HR.
By this suggestion of Babalakin & Co, it
literarily means that the law firm admitted that NBET and its management have
not been complying with the approved NBET HR policy manual. How does the law
firm of Babalakin & Co fit into the operation and policy of NBET by making
such suggestions? What is the legal profession turning to if this is coming
from a learned silk’s office?
CONCLUSION: SUMMARY
OF COURT JUDGEMENT
In
as much as every individual is entitled to his personal view and observation, I
wish to unequivocally make the following review of the court judgement of Hon
Justice Oyewumi delivered on 11th March, 2020, as my own
understanding and perspective: A closer look at the 23-page judgement gives an
insight to her Lordship’s stand on each order pronounced.
On
the wrongful suspension of my salary and emoluments, the judge on pages 19-20
confirmed that my remuneration was stopped long before disciplinary process was
taken against me. This in her words was putting the cart before the horse. It
is germane to state that my salary was stopped since 27th December
2017 and I was issued a query in 2018 for absence without leave which was never
a reason adduced in a memo communicating the stoppage of my salary. More so, the
court said that assuming but not conceding that absenteeism was a ground for
the stoppage of my salary, the stipulated procedures as contained in the NBET
Human Resources Policy Manual which governs the relationship and conditions of
service between NBET and myself was never followed by NBET.
On
the wrongful refusal of my annual leave for 2017 and 2018, the judge noted that
it was unfair labour practice and against international best practice. “It is
trite in the world of work that annual leave is a statutory right of an
employee and every employee is entitled to same. In fact, the contract of
claimant’s employment recognizes his right to leave as expounded in Exhibit
SA9”. Her Lordship went further to support her stand with ILO Convention C32
Revision in 1970 for holiday with pay.
Dr
Marilyn Amobi (2nd defendant) was said to lack the vires to
unilaterally suspend, punish and/or withhold the salary, emoluments, and all
other benefits accruable to me. Successfully, this matter broadly shows the
power of the Hon Minister of Power on its supervisory role over NBET and its
management. The Minister by the Guideline Regulating the Relationship Between
Parastatal/State Owned Companies has power to direct the Boards of any
parastatal under it on issues which border on policy that affects conditions of
service of staff. The Minister in this regard is the Minister of Power as same
was confirmed by NBET through its sole witness (Ms. Itohan Ehiede) where she
confirmed before the court that NBET and its management since the dissolution
of the pioneer board in 2015 has been taking instructions from the Ministry of
Power, Works and Housing and that Dr. Amobi attended and cooperated fully with
the ministerial committee on NBET staff matters which she accompanied her. The
import of which is that Dr. Amobi agreed to the supervision of Ministry of
Power, Works and Housing through the Minister over the management of NBET.
Furthermore,
the court confirmed the provision of the above guideline on the issue that the
Board of any parastatal under it and/or even the Managing Director i.e. in this
case MD NBET must consult the Minister (Minister of Power, Works and Housing)
before any change in policy which bothers on public interest and/or can
generate public controversy. By this pronouncement of the judge, we can safely
conclude that the Accountant General of the Federation erred in his duty by
posting its staff to NBET without recourse or request for the approval of the
supervising ministry through the NBET MD/CEO, as posting of treasury staff to
NBET (Finance and Internal Audit) bothers on policy issues in which Dr. Marilyn Amobi must secure
approval from the Minister of Power before implementing same. The court
affirmed that the Board is responsible for the conditions of service of staff
in any organization. Salary and emoluments bother on conditions of service. Dr Marilyn Amobi was held to lack
the vires to unilaterally suspend my salaries.
The
crown of the judgement was the order of the judge for the payment of my salary
and emoluments and all other benefits accruing to me as staff of NBET since 22nd
December 2017 when same were stopped. On this, the judgement reads at page 21: “It is right to re-emphasis that claimant’s
employment in this case has not been determined but that his salary and other
entitlement were withheld by the 1st and 2nd defendants.
I have held Supra that the 1st and 2nd defendants,
contrary to its terms and conditions of service withheld the claimant’s salary
and other emoluments wrongfully. Although, the 1st and 2nd
defendants argued that he did not work as stated by his line manager vide
Exhibit SA13, I find from Exhibit SA13 that his line manager did in fact state
at paragraph 1 of that memo to the 2nd defendant that he engaged the
claimant on different tasks. The import of which is that the claimant did
actually work and thus entitled to be paid his salaries and emoluments.”
THE
ABOVE QUOTATION CONNOTES JUSTICE FOR THE OPPRESSED!
Sambo
Abdullahi
Deputy
General Manager
Nigerian
Bulk Electricity Trading Plc, (NBET)
Abuja
