By Desire Emmanuel
The National Industrial Court has ordered the authorities of the University of Lagos (UNILAG) to compute and pay the terminal benefits of a professor that is dead, saying he was suspended before his death and not dismissed.
Justice Elizabeth Oji of the Lagos Division of the court on Monday declared the refusal of the university to assess, compute and pay the terminal benefits of late Professor Luke Uche as arbitrary, unlawful and high-handedness.
The judge ordered the university authorities to immediately assess, compute and furnish Professor Uche’s widow and next-of-kin, Mrs. Joyce Uche, with details of all pensions, gratuities, emoluments and disengagement entitlements due to her husband and to pay the same within 60 days.
According to court documents, the widow told the court that her husband was employed by the University of Lagos in 1982, confirmed in 1986 and promoted to professor in 1996, adding that he was suspended in 2001 and he challenged the suspension in court up to the Supreme Court before his death on October 6, 2015.
She further told the court that as the administrator of his estate, she repeatedly requested the university to compute and pay her husband’s benefits, but the institution refused and instead alleged that the deceased owed the university over N25 million.
The University of Lagos, in its defence, admitted that Professor Uche was its staff member but maintained that he was suspended and recommended for dismissal.
It further claimed that Professor Uche owed the university salary paid in error, rent arrears, electricity bills and damages to official quarters, insisting that the estate must settle the debts before any benefit could be paid.
The university, through its counsel, also argued that the professor failed to obtain clearance certificates and other documents required under the Public Service Rules before any entitlements could be processed.
However, Mrs Uche’s counsel told the court that the late Professor Uche was never dismissed but was a suspended staff until his death, which entitled him to full salary and benefits.
The counsel maintained that his client properly initiated clearance through the proper channel and that it was the duty of the university, not that of Professor Uche, to complete the internal process regarding the entitlements.
He also posited that the alleged debt was a mere afterthought and bad faith, unsupported by any documentary proof, and urged the court to grant the relief sought by his client.
Delivering judgment, the judge held that Professor Uche died as a suspended staff member and was never dismissed from the employment of the university, adding that the suspension did not terminate his employment and cannot affect getting his benefits.
Justice Oji held that the university failed to prove the alleged indebtedness of over N25 million, as no departmental reports, calculations, or documentary evidence were produced to support the claim.
The judge therefore held that the evidence before the court sufficiently established that late Professor Uche remained a suspended staff member of the university at the time of his death and that the refusal of the university to assess, compute, and pay his entitlements was arbitrary, unjustified and unlawful.
The court, apart from ordering the University of Lagos to pay the terminal benefits within 60 days, also awarded N2 million as costs against the university.
