For failing to pay
their severance packages after months of retirement, some retired judges
of Oyo State have dragged the state governor, Adebayo Alao-Akala, to
court for redress.
Comprising three
chief judges, two acting chief judges, and six other retired judges, who
served in the state’s judiciary before retirement, the claimants are
Justices N.O. Adekola, M.O. Adio, R. G. Oyetunde, A. Adeniran, J.O. Ige,
K. Jimoh, L.O. Arasi, A. Sanda, A. Ojo, S.O. Akintola, and T.O.
Adeniran (deceased).
They accused the
governor, and the state attorney general, also joined in the suit, of
consciously denying them the right to their lawful entitlements, in
contravention of provisions of the 1999 Constitution, ‘Certain Political
Public and Judicial Office Holder (Salaries and Allowances) Act 2002
and the amended Act 2008′.
In an originating
summon filed on their behalf by Lasun Sanusi (SAN) at the state High
Court yesterday, they are praying the court to determine four posers
which include whether the state government is not bound by the
provisions of the law on the payment of the entitlements; whether,
following their retirements, they are not entitled to the pay; whether,
having completed their services in the state’s judicial service, it is
not wrong for the state to deny them their severance entitlement; and
whether the denial should be compensated with interest on the payable
sums.
Anticipating affirmative reactions to their questions, they promptly seek from the court five consequential reliefs.
The National
Judicial Council (NJC), in a circular to all heads of courts in the
federal and states judiciary, had written to “notify all judicial
officers in the federation that on retirement, they shall be entitled to
payment of severance gratuity based on 300% of their annual basic
salaries”, adding that the payment must be made “once in a lifetime,
after successful completion of tenure of office of the judicial
officer.”
In another circular
dated December 21, 2009, the NJC also said, in respect of the severance
gratuity, that “the National Judicial Council is responsible for payment
of severance gratuity to only retired federal judicial officers, while
the state government is responsible for payment of same to state
judicial officers.”
But for the
carelessness of the government and its agents, it was gathered that the
retired jurists made series of efforts to avoid taking legal action
against the government over the matter.
Apart from writing
letters to intimate them with the position of law and circulars from the
National Judicial Council to the effect, they also sought audience with
the state attorney general and commissioner for justice for his
intervention.
One of the letters
was dated 23 April, 2010, where the list of four states – Ekiti, Ondo,
Rivers, and Bayelsa – where the entitlements were being paid was
detailed.
The letter was in
response to the attorney general’s insistence that the retired judicial
officers go and find out where the money is being paid in all the states
of the federation apart from the federal government, to justify why
they must be paid.
Despite the findings, the government still did not pay, prompting a
fresh letter to the governor on February 7, 2011, where he was hinted of
impending legal action if he fails to pay.
