Court Orders Firm To Pay Sulaiman Rabi’u 15-Month Unpaid Salaries, Declines Other Claims

The Presiding Judge, Kano Judicial Division of the National Industrial Court, Hon. Justice E. D. Isele has ordered Posmi Textile Company to pay one Sulaiman Rabi’u the sum of N375,000 (Three hundred and Seventy-Five Thousand Naira) as unpaid salary from April 2016 to June 2017, and the sum of N100,000 cost of action within 1 month; declined other entitlement claims.

Justice Isele held that Sulaiman Rabi’u failed to prove N5m compensation and other entitlement claims as required by law and the oral agreement relied upon was at best a gentleman’s agreement which is not enforceable except upon admission by the firm.

From facts, the Claimant- Sulaiman Rabi’u had submitted that he was employed in 2006 as a Salesman and representative for Posmi Textile on the oral basis that the firm would establish a business for him after 3 years of service and would rent and pay for a shop and supply him with textile goods worth between N10,000,000 and N20,000,000 but will remit the cost of goods after the sale while he retains the profit as it was done for others.

He averred that he verbally demanded for payment of his outstanding salaries and for his employer to start the business for him several times without success and the firm failed and refused to pay him his entitlements or fulfill its obligations, urged the court to grant the relief sought.

In defense, Posmi Textile Company maintained that it never had any employment agreement with Sulaiman and was not in existence in the years claimed by the claimant hence 2nd- defendant Tambari Zango Ltd cannot enter into an agreement on his behalf and also that he (Sulaiman Rabi’u) has caused damages to them.

The defendants filed a Preliminary Objection on the grounds that Posmi Textile Company is a non-juristic person in law and the complaint was not served on the firm in accordance with the law having been served on a Saturday and the rules of the Court are meant to be followed and non-compliance goes to the root of the case and robs the Court of its jurisdiction, urged the Court to decline jurisdiction to entertain the suit.

However, the Notice of Preliminary Objection was struck out for lacking merit and the suit proceeded to trial.

Furthermore, the defendant’s Counsel averred that Sulaiman placed nothing before the Court to prove that the firm agreed to set him up after three years of working, and urged the court to dismiss the case in its entirety.

Delivering the judgment, the presiding Judge, Justice Isele held that Sulaiman Rabi’u did not call anyone whom he said the firm had opened shop for to prove his case, and the failure to do so did not help his case to establish that it was the usual style and practice of the Defendants to open shops for their employees after a period of time.

Justice Isele held that the oral agreement to rent a shop for Sulaiman Rabi’u was at best a gentleman’s agreement which is not enforceable except upon admission by the Defendant that such agreement and practice exists or existed or upon other evidence such as those of Umar Abdullahi and Auwalu Dauda who were not called as witnesses.