The Presiding Judge, Ibadan Judicial Division of the National Industrial Court, Hon. Justice Dele Peters, has declared the appointment termination of Mrs. Adedire and 107 employees of Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital Complex OAUTHC by a Circular issued 31st January 2024, as grossly irregular, unlawful and in violation of the express provision of the University Teaching Hospital (Reconstitution of Boards etc) Act 2013.
The Court declared that Mrs. Adedire and 107 others are still bona fide employees of the OAUTHC and by reason thereof are entitled to their salaries, emoluments, benefits, rights, and entitlements due and ascribe to their respect positions and to continue to exercise their duties as staff without let or hinderance or any form of harassment or limitation whatsoever from the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital Management Board, their servant, agents, privies, or how- whatsoever.
Justice Dele Peters ordered Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital Management Board to immediately reinstate Mrs. Adedire and 107 others into their respective positions as bona fide staff of the OAUTHC as of 31st January 2024, and to immediately compute and pay to each of Mrs. Adedire and 107 others their respective outstanding remunerations and entitlements from the 31st January 2024 till the date of the Judgment with payment of Five Hundred Thousand Naira (=N=500,000.00) only as cost of action.
From facts, the claimant- Mrs. Adedire and 5 others suing for themselves and on behalf of 108 employees of Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital brought the action in a representative capacity had submitted that they resumed duties in their different offices with their salaries and allowances paid for about one year before they suddenly stopped, and that they eventually learnt through a Circular that their employment was irregular in that it was in excess of the waiver allowed by the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation.
In defence, the defendant- Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital Management Board averred that the validity of Mrs Adedire and 107 others’ employment was beyond the approval by the Head of Service and that the Hon Minister’s directive to cancel the employment of Mrs. Adedire and 107 others was necessary to correct the irregularities in the employment process.
Counsel posited that the cancellation of Mrs. Adedire and 107 others employment, as directed by the Hon Minister of Health, effectively terminated their employment relationship; that Mrs. Adedire and 107 others have not worked for the Defendant since January 2024; that it is trite that no work, no pay and cannot claim salaries for services not rendered.
In opposition, Mrs. Adedire and 107 others counsel, posited that the Defendant failed to comply with the provisions of the University Teaching Hospitals Act and that failure of the Board to comply with statutory provisions before terminating the employment of Mrs. Adedire and 107 others rendered the same null, void and unconstitutional and that the Circular issued by the Defendant on 31/1/24 is unlawful and contrary to the Contract of Employment between the parties.
In a well-considered judgment, the presiding Judge, Justice Dele Peters held that none of these exhibits tendered before the court indicated that Mrs Adedire and 107 others offers were at the pleasure of any Honourable Minister or anybody, for that matter.
The Court stated that the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital Management Board is a creation of the University Teaching Hospitals (Reconstitution of Board Etc) Act, and conferred with powers to have a mind of its own, and the Court was not informed that Mrs. Adedire and 107 others had any role to play in ensuring that the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital Management Board complied with some internal requirements to solidify their employment.
Justice Peters held that the alleged failure of the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital Management Board to act within the number in an alleged waiver was an internal matter, and Mrs Adedire and 107 others must not be made to suffer for what they knew nothing about.
Justice Peters further ruled that nowhere in the University Teaching Hospitals (Reconstitution of Board Etc) Act that a power is conferred on the Hon Minister of Health and Social Welfare to exercise any disciplinary powers or control over the employees of the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital Management Board.
The Court declared the alleged cancellation of the employment of Mrs Adedire and 107 others by the Hon. Minister of Health & Social Welfare as unlawful, null and void, having offended the provisions of the University Teaching Hospitals (Reconstitution of Board Etc) Act, 2013.
