Hon. Justice Olufunke Anuwe of the Abuja Judicial Division of the National Industrial Court has declared that the employment of Mr. Augustine Tokula and 106 others with the Kogi State Transport Company Limited subsists until determined in compliance with the terms of their contract of employment and the labour laws in Nigeria.
Justice Anuwe declared that the fact that the Kogi State Government owns the controlling shares in the Kogi State Transport Company has made the service in the State Transport Company service in the public service of the State Government.
The Court held that Mr. Augustine Tokula and 106 others’ employment have not been terminated but only placed on “compulsory leave” since June 2011 and nothing has changed since then, ordered the Kogi State Transport Company Limited, Kogi State Government and its Attorney General to pay Mr. Augustine Tokula and 106 others the sum of N376,794,245.24 ( Three Hundred and Seventy-Six Million, Seven Hundred and Ninety-Four Thousand, Two Hundred and Twenty-Four Naira, Twenty-Four Kobo only being the total arrears of their salaries owed as at 31st December 2020.
Justice Anuwe further ordered the Kogi State Transport Company Limited, Kogi State Government and its Attorney General to pay each of Mr. Augustine Tokula and 106 others, excluding the 15 Staff who have retired from service, his or her salary from January 2021 until such a time that they would lawfully retire from service or their employments are validly terminated.
From facts, the claimants-Mr. Augustine Tokula and 106 others had submitted that they were all employed by the Kogi State Transport Company and they worked until June 2011 when the Kogi State Government directed that the premises of the State Transport Company be locked and that a notice be posted on the Company’s Notice Board to the effect that all the workers should proceed on compulsory leave.
They stated that since the lock-out and the pasting of the notice, the Kogi State Transport Company Limited, Kogi State Government and its Attorney General have not issued any formal communication in line with the terms of their contract of employment.
Mr. Augustine Tokula and 106 others averred that they have been going to the office to resume work but the office remained under lock and the premises have been heavily guarded by law enforcement agents, an action that has caused them untold hardship.
In defence, the defendants- Kogi State Transport Company Limited, Kogi State Government and its Attorney General averred that Mr. Augustine Tokula and 106 others were employees of the State Transport Company, a limited liability company incorporated under the Corporate Affairs Commission, that employees of the Kogi State Transport Company are not employed in the public service of the Kogi State Government and that the Kogi State Government and its Attorney General were never responsible for the employment, promotion or remuneration of Mr. Augustine Tokula and 106 others and as such cannot be held liable for their dismissal.
Their learned counsel averred that the Kogi State Government and its Attorney General are not responsible for the lockout and it is not their duty to provide Mr. Augustine Tokula and 106 others work, and urged the Court to dismiss the case in its entirety.
In opposition, learned counsel to Mr. Augustine Tokula and 106 others maintained that the Kogi State Government wholly owns the shares of the Kogi State Transport Company and that workers in the Company are in the public service of the Kogi State Government, and urged the Court to grant the reliefs sought.
In a well-considered Judgment after careful evaluation of the evidence tendered and submission of both parties, the Presiding Judge, Justice Olufunke Anuwe held that Mr. Augustine Tokula and 106 others as employees of the Kogi State Transport Company are employees in the public service of the Kogi State Government, and there is no evidence that Mr. Augustine Tokula and 106 others employment with the State Transport Company were terminated in June 2011 when they were directed to proceed on compulsory leave.
The Court stated that given the nature of power Kogi State Government exerts in the State Transport Company as described by the defendants, the State Government owns the controlling shares in the State Transport Company and controls the affairs of the company, including its employees.
Justice Anuwe held that by the Constitutional provision, the fact that the Kogi State Government owns the controlling shares in the State Transport Company has made the service in the State Transport Company service in the public service of the State, and Mr. Augustine Tokula and 106 others are entitled to be paid their salaries from the time they were forced to go on the compulsory leave.
