A Manager with the Federal Government-owned Oil and Gas Free Zone Authority Administration (OGFZAA), Funmilayo Omosule has been granted permission to testify from the United States of America (USA) in a suit he filed against his suspension from office.
Justice Olufunke Anuwe of the National Industrial Court (NIC) in Abuja, in a ruling, agreed to allow Omosule to participate in the proceedings virtually to fast-track the hearing of the case and ensure its prompt.
Justice Anuwe adjourned till April 4 for a definite hearing in the suit.
The ruling was on an application by lawyer to the plaintiff, Dr Tunji Abayomi, in which he urged the court to invoke Order 37, Rule 2 of the court’s Rules to prevent further delay in the case.
Abayomi said that the plaintiff has only one witness, who is in the USA for medical treatment, adding that all documentary evidence front loaded to the court by Omosule were not disputed by the defendant, hence the need for quick determination of the suit.
OGFZAA’s lawyer, Mrs Peace Ogbonna, did not object to the grant of accelerated hearing, but argued that the delay was not caused by her client.
Ogbonna informed the court that she also has just one witness to testify in the matter.
OGFZAA had, via a letter dated April 18, 2011, suspended Omosule as the manager of its Abuja office, on the grounds that he refused to comply with its letter dated December 3, 2010, which had directed him to present the originals of his credentials for verification.
Omosule denied the claim of the authority, stating rather that he made available to the defendant, Certified True Copies (CTCs) of his educational certificates /credentials, including GCE ‘O Level certificates and degree certificates as instructed.
He claimed that the originals of his credentials were misplaced in untraceable circumstances as in 2010 when the report to submit originals was made.
Omosule stated that the CTCs of his certificates, submitted to the defendant, was certified by the issuing institutions, which included the West African Examination Council and the University of Ado-Ekiti, then Ondo State University, Ado-Ekiti respectively.
The claimant wants the court‘s declaration that he is still a staff of the organisation and entitled to all the rights, privileges and benefits due to him by reason of his employment.
Omosule, who is asking for N50million damages, wants the court to order the defendant to reinstate him to the position of a director, on grade level 17, a position he claimed his contemporaries were holding currently.
