The National Industrial Court of Nigeria has dismissed a N2 billion damages suit filed against Olabisi Onabanjo University by a retired lecturer, Dr Raymond Adegboyega, over allegations of prolonged denial of promotion during his service at the institution.
Delivering judgment in Ibadan, Justice J.D. Peters held that the claimant failed to provide sufficient evidence to substantiate his claims, ruling that the case lacked “cogent, credible and admissible evidence.”
Adegboyega, who retired from the university’s Department of Banking and Finance in 2022, had approached the court seeking N2 billion in damages, alleging that despite joining the institution in 1982, he was promoted only once in 2001 from Lecturer II to Lecturer I and remained on the same rank until retirement.
The former lecturer argued that the university’s failure to promote him over the years was motivated by nepotism, segregation and ethnic discrimination, claiming he was treated unfairly because he was not an indigene of Ogun State.
He told the court that the prolonged stagnation caused him psychological trauma and professional humiliation.
Through his counsel, Osuolale Asanike, Adegboyega also sought payment of leave allowances allegedly denied him throughout his service years, insisting that he never proceeded on annual leave.
He further requested payment of salary deductions he claimed were not remitted to the university’s cooperative society, alongside unpaid deductions allegedly meant for the Academic Staff Union of Universities.
The claimant also asked the court to compel the university to recalculate his pension and gratuity based on what he described as his “deserved promotions.”
However, counsel to the university, Felix Ogunmade and Daniel Ola, urged the court to dismiss the suit, describing the claims as baseless, speculative and unsupported by evidence.
The defence argued that promotion within the institution is merit-driven and dependent on factors such as quality of scholarly publications, membership of relevant professional bodies, and recommendations from departmental and faculty promotion committees.
The university also informed the court that Adegboyega was eventually recommended for promotion to senior lecturer in 2019, but the process was stalled following a petition lodged against him by a student.
On the issue of leave entitlement, the defence maintained that the claimant voluntarily chose not to proceed on annual leave and therefore could not lawfully convert the period into monetary compensation.
Regarding pension claims, the university argued that pension payments are handled by pension fund administrators rather than by the institution itself.
In his ruling, Justice Peters affirmed that promotion remains the prerogative of an employer and is not an automatic right of employees.
“It is up to an employer to determine if its employee will be promoted. An employee is not entitled to promotion simply because he believes in his competence, skills and loyalty to his employer,” the judge ruled.
He further stated that no evidence was presented to establish that the claimant had fulfilled the requirements for promotion.
Quoting the famous legal principle in UAC v MacFoy, Justice Peters said: “You cannot put something on nothing and expect it to stand. It will collapse.”
He consequently dismissed all reliefs sought by the claimant and struck out the suit in its entirety for lack of proof.
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