By Desire Emmanuel
The National Industrial Court has told the Niger State government that it cannot recover salaries paid to a worker who was later dismissed after he was found to have presented fake certificates.
Justice Funke Anuwe of the Minna Division of the court said this while ruling in a case brought by the said worker, Rahman Isah, as she said the government didn’t do due diligence before employing him and the man performed his duties to warrant payment of the salaries.
The state government had, in the course of the case, demanded a refund of N13.2 million being salaries paid to Isah over a period of 218 months, alongside damages and costs on the ground of falsification of records he used to get employed.
The judge dismissed the allegation of unlawful dismissal claim filed by Isah against the state government and the state civil service as she held that Isah did not establish that his employment subsists and also failed to provide sufficient facts to challenge the dismissal of his appointment.
Available court documents indicated that Isah was employed in 2003 by the state government and worked with the Ministry of Water Resources and Rural Development, with his entry qualification being a Teachers’ Certificate Grade II.
Isah added that while in service, he obtained an Ordinary National Diploma (OND) in Civil Engineering Technology and presented the same during the screening exercise.
He stated that during the exercise, his certificate was queried, and that thereafter, he continued work but suddenly stopped receiving salary from September 2021 and was later directed not to report for duty pending verification of his certificate.
Isah further told the court that he was not issued any official communication regarding the termination of his employment and claimed that his unpaid salaries from September 2021 to December 2024 amounted to N2.54 million.
He consequently sought declarations that his employment subsists, that the withholding of his salaries was unlawful, that his certificates are genuine, and an order for payment of arrears of salaries, damages and other reliefs.
In its defence, the state government admitted that Isah was employed by the government, but his employment was obtained based on false representation of qualifications.
The government stated that during the screening exercise, it was discovered that Isah’s Teachers’ Grade II certificate could not be verified and his OND certificate was confirmed to be fake.
The government further averred that upon these findings, Isah was dismissed from service through a letter in June 2021, which took effect in January 2021, on the ground of falsification of records.
The state government therefore made a counter-claim for a refund of N13.2 million being salaries paid to Isah over a period of 218 months, alongside damages and costs.
Delivering judgment, Justice Anuwe held that where a dismissal letter has been produced, the only basis to declare the employment subsisting is where the dismissal is successfully challenged as wrongful or unlawful.
She said Isah did not challenge the dismissal but merely denied receipt of the dismissal letter, and that the non-receipt of the dismissal letter does not invalidate the dismissal and cannot be relied upon to set it aside.
Justice Anuwe held that the existence of the dismissal letter and the stoppage of salaries confirmed that Isah’s employment had been terminated.
The judge held that the claim seeking a declaration that Isah’s qualifications are genuine cannot be granted, as only the issuing institutions can confirm their authenticity and no such evidence was produced, while she also stated that Isah failed to establish his claims and is not entitled to any of the reliefs sought.
However, on the counter-claim by the government, Justice Anuwe stated that it failed to conduct due diligence at the point of employment and cannot recover salaries for services already rendered by Isah.
