Industrial court dismisses PTAD ex-workers’ appeal
THE National Industrial Court (NIC) has struck out an appeal by three former directors of the Pension Transaction Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) over age discrepancies.
The trio of Roz BenOkagbue, Taiwo Ogundipe and Godson Ukpevo were accused before Justice Sanusi Bako of the NIC that, as prescribed under the Public Service Rules, they had exceeded the 50 years age limit at the time of their employment.
Counsel to the defendant, Godwin Iheabunike, told the court that the requirements for prior notice of termination or opportunity to be heard before the termination of their appointment do not arise, as the defendant did not accuse the claimants of any wrong doing but that their recruitment was a fundamental breach of the extant provisions of the public service rules.
Iheabunike argued that the irregularity of appointment of the claimants was discovered by the Federal Auditors from the Office of the Auditor General for the federation in a personnel audit carried out in 2015, which recommended the nullification of their appointments of the claimants on grounds of irregular appointment in breach of public service rules, which stipulates the age ceiling for entry into the public service as 50 years and refund of salaries enjoyed during the period.