Brave Dickson
Some workers of Emohua Local Government Area of Rivers State have dragged their Council boss, Chidi Lloyd before a National Industrial Court sitting in Port Harcourt over unpaid salaries.
In suit number: NICN/PHC/2022, the workers maintained that their salaries were unjustly deducted and withheld, adding that the LG boss also demoted their employment grade level.
According to the originating summons, the 1st, 2nd and 3rd defendants in the suit are: Emohua Local Government Council, the Chairman of Emohua Local Government Council and the Rivers State Local Government Service Commission.
The 19 plaintiffs in the suit are praying the court to grant the following reliefs in their favour:
1) A declaration that the section 7 (5) Fourth Schedule of the amended 1999 Constitution does not give the Ist, 2nd and 3rd defendants the powers to demote the employment grade level of the plaintiffs.
2) A declaration that by virtue of sections 44 (1) 48 (1) (2) of the Rivers State Local Government Law No. 5 of 2018, the 1st and 2nd defendants have no power to demote or cut the salaries of the complainants.
3) A declaration that the salary cut and downgrading of the employment grade level of the complainants by their council boss without any indictment of wrongdoing by a legal panel of investigation violate the rights of the plaintiffs as contained in section 54 (1) (2) (b) of the Rivers State Local Government Law No. 5 of 2018 as well as section 36 (1) of the amended 1999 Constitution.
4) An order of this Honourable Court on the defendants to within seven (7) days of the judgment of this Court re-instate the claimants to their employment grade level.
5) An order on this Honourable Court on the defendants to within seven (7) days of the judgment of the Court to release in full, the withheld and unpaid salaries of the claimants.
6) An order of this Honourable Court on the 1st and 2nd defendants to pay every claimant so affected by the defendants’ policy of demotion and salary cut, the sum of N1million only to represent the traumatic damage suffered by the affected workers.
Our correspondent reports that the solicitor of the plaintiffs, Freedom Conflict Prevention and Social Integration (FREECON) led by its lead counsel, Barr Kingdom Chukwuezie also prayed the court to order the defendants to tender apologies to the claimants on two national newspapers circulated in the country.