Details of the Congress of Ex Air Nigeria staffs which held on sunday

The Congress held successfully on Sunday with many ex staffs of Air Nigeria in attendance.

The representatives, Roland Ahmed, Jaja Somiari, Chima Kingsley, Livinus Oliaskwe, Israel Awonuga and Christopher Odunukwe were on ground to update and clarify the court ruling and respond to queries.

Based on the court ruling below, Roland Ahmed, speaking on behalf of the representatives briskly ran through the twenty five page ruling and the journey so far.

See summary of the Ruling below:

“In view of the above, the claimant’s suit succeeds in parts. For the avoidance of doubt the court hereby order as follows:

1.       The termination of the Claimants’ employment is wrongful 

2.       The defendant shall pay to the claimants the sum of N475, 280, 492,.48 (Four Hundred and seventy five million, two hundred and eighty thousand, and four hundred and ninety two naira and forty eight kobo) and the sum of $309,270.00 (Three hundred and nine thousand,  two hundred and seventy US dollars) being the Claimants’ areas of salaries from May to August 2012, as indicated against the names of each claimant on paragraph 14 of the statement of facts and pages 3-15 of this judgment.

3.       The defendant shall also pay each claimant 1 month salary in lieu of notice

4.       The defendant shall calculate each of the claimant’s contributory pension entitlement and pay same to the contributory Pension fund administrator

5.       The defendant shall pay 5,000 cost to each of the claimants

6.       The defendant shall pay to the claimant and the judge the judgment sum not later than 30 days from the date of this judgment. Failure of which all the sums will attract 10% interest. 

Judgment is entered accordingly.

Tax

Roland explained that the issue of deducted taxes which were not remitted was not included in the ruling because the Judge said the Industrial court did not have jurisdiction over Tax matters. He noted that this will be followed up.

5 Million Pay to each Claimant

Roland clarified the purported N5 Million pay to each claimant. Whilst referring them to the court ruling, he emphasized that it was a misrepresentation in the media as the correct figure was N5,000 each.

Cooperative

Lukman explained that the Cooperative case was treated separately in a different court. He confirmed that the remaining balance in the cooperative coffers was shared amongst members who had no outstanding loans. He expressed the challenges the cooperative executives encountered whilst trying to recover loans from members.

Who is paying?

On the issue of who is paying the staffs, Livinus Olisakwe highlighted the fact that during the preliminary ruling Jimoh Ibrahim’s legal representatives separated him from the case on the grounds that Air Nigeria was an entity. So technically as it stands the case was between the Ex staffs and Air Nigeria. Interestingly who ever acquired the assets and liabilities of the defunct Air Nigeria would have to pay.

Roland announced that the payment list would be available for all concerned to check through for their names. He used the opportunity to encourage those who were skeptical about getting their entitlement to have a rethink. As the struggle continues..

Questions

Adebisi Adewale acknowledged the sacrifice made by the representatives and expressed concerns about how the legal and the representatives fees would be deducted knowing fully well that it may be difficult to achieve once the recipients account were credited.

Roland Ahmed confirmed that this would be deducted from source.

Gabriel Chiogor expressed concern about the fate of those who did not participate in the documentation process and whose names were missing from the list.

To this Roland responded that they should send in their names for compilation and follow up through the legal process. 

Mike Chikeka suggested the need for more active steps to ensure affected staffs got their entitlements. taking in cognizance our Peculiar environment and how the system works.

The general consensus was to pursue the actual realization of the court ruling on the case.

Whilst acknowledging the pains of all concerned, Roland emphasized the need to continuously follow due legal process.

What next?

As the 30days period in the ruling draws closer the Ex staffs are eager to know what happens after if the court ruling is not met.

Roland suggests the need to keep the hope alive, continuous consultation with their legal representative and adhering to legal process. But most importantly keeping a positive mind towards the case. As the rep team are convinced that total victory is around the corner.

 At the end of the meeting Jaja Somiari released the list for all present to check through. Those who went through the documentation process and had their names missing from the list were advised to put down their names and contact details for follow up.