Francis Adesegun Katto V Central Bank Of Nigeria (1999)

LAWGLOBAL HUB Lead Judgment Report

UWAIFO, J.S.C.

The Court of Appeal, Kaduna Division, on 7 June, 1993, gave judgment on an appeal from a rather simple suit decided by Agora J. on 4 September, 1987, sitting at the High Court, Minna. A number of issues were raised on that appeal: three were in respect of an alleged wrongful termination of employment and five in respect of defamation said to emanate from the letter which conveyed the termination. It thus meant that the suit was based on two causes of action whereof in the amended statement of claim the plaintiff finally claimed the following reliefs:

“(a) Declaration that the defendant’s purported termination of plaintiff’s appointment on 1st June. 1984 by virtue of defendant’s letter of that date was wrong in law, null and void and of no effect.

(b) Order on the defendant to re-instate the plaintiff to the former position in the defendant’s employment before the wrong (sic) termination with all necessary entitlements that would have accrued to him had he not be (sic) so wrongly (sic) terminated. Or

A declaration that plaintiff is entitled to gratuity and pension according to the defendant (sic) Staff Manual and an order to the defendant to pay him his gratuities immediately and his pension to start to run at his 45th year anniversary.

(c) N200,000.00 (Two hundred thousand naira) special and general damages for the wrongful termination of the plaintiff’s appointment which claim include (sic) plaintiff’s salary up to voluntary retirement age if plaintiff is not re-instated.

And

(d) N100,000.00 (One hundred thousand naira) general (aggravated) damages for the defamation suffered by the plaintiff as a result of the defendant’s wrongful termination.”

The learned trial Judge gave judgment for the plaintiff. As for the claim based on wrongful termination of appointment, he ordered that the plaintiff be reinstated to his employment (as Senior Manager grade level 13) and given all the entitlements due to him, including promotion prospects. In the alternative, the following orders were made:

(a) The defendant should immediately pay the plaintiff his “gratuity to an amount equal to his annual salary when he was 15 years in the defendant’s service, and [his amount should progress by I0% per annum for each completed year of his service after the first 15 years.”

(b) The plaintiff should be paid his pension when he would be 45 years of age. In regard to damages for defamation, the learned trial Judge awarded the plaintiff N70.000.00.

In the appeal against the judgment, the defendant, as already indicated, raised eight issues for determination. The two most relevant for the purposes of the present appeals before this court were:

(a) whether the statement of claim disclosed a cause of action in respect of the claim for wrongful termination of employment and the effect on the award of damages. and

(b) whether there is a cause of action known as defamation as a result of wrongful termination or whether wrongful termination per se can constitute defamation.