The National Industrial Court in Ibadan, Oyo State, on Tuesday, dismissed a suit by a former employee, Oyetunji Ajao against First Bank of Nigeria, seeking N3 million damages over delay in payment of his retirement benefits.

Mr Ajao, who retired from First Bank of Nigeria on May 31, 2008, filed a suit against the bank over his unpaid gratuity and other retirement benefits totalling N5 million.

The claimant through his counsel, Babatunde Samuel, had urged the court to order the bank to pay his retirement benefits and as well award N3 million as damages against the bank for the delay.

The counsel to the defendant, A. Ajayi, argued that the suit was statute barred having been caught by Section 18 of Limitation Law of Oyo State, which stipulates five years from the time the incident arose and the time of filing the case.

Ajayi informed the court that the course of action arose on May 31, 2008 when the claimant retired, adding that the claimant filed the case in March 2, 2021, which was past the five years allowed to start an action by the law.

The defence counsel urged the court to dismiss the suit because it was statute barred and lacked jurisdiction.

Delivering judgment, on Tuesday in Ibadan, Justice John Peters dismissed the suit and held that the court lacked jurisdiction to hear the matter because it was caught by the statute of limitation.

Peters said the claimant filed the suit 13 years after the course of action arose which was outside the five years allowed by the limitation law.

The judge said that the claimant had lost his right to institute the suit having failed to institute the suit within the period stipulated by the law and this has rendered the suit incompetent.

“The course of action started on May 31, 2008 when the claimant retired from the service of First Bank of Nigeria and choose to file the suit on March 2, 2021, which was 13 years after.

“I hold that the case is statute barred and accordingly the case of the claimant is dismiss in its entirety,” the judge said.

(NAN)