Plans have been concluded to arraign two officials of the Oil and Gas Free Zone Authority (OGFZA) at the Magistrate Court, Wuse Zone 2, Abuja.
Their arraignment is coming after several attempts which have been hindered by legal bottlenecks in the past 10 years.
At the last adjourned date, August 31, 2021, when the matter was scheduled to commence the defendants were absent in court.
The duo are to be arraigned for alleged forgery and victimization.
They were alleged 10 years ago to have victimised and unduly relieved the victim of his job after forgery of documents to implicate him.
The case is to be heard by Magistrate Mabel Segun-Bello.
A hearing notice has been issued and delivered to the parties in the matter pursuant to Order 3, Rule 7 of the court.
The plaintiff in the matter, Mr Olufumilayo David Omosule had accused the defendants of deliberate and willful attempt to discredit his personality by plotting and carrying out a connivance to falsify his documents with the intentions to bring him to ridicule and cause him to lose his livelihood.
He is praying the court to cause the defendants in the matter to explain to the court why they falsified documents to victimised him and requested for adequate compensation.
The OGFA staff members who had been summoned by the Magistrate court included the Head of Legal Services and Secretary to OGFZA’s Board, Mr Wasiu
Sule as welll as Mr Alenju Ngofa, who is the Human Resource Head of the organisation.
This is the third attempt by the Magistrate to hear from both officials on the matter which had suffered some hitches for the first two dates given for their arraignment.
The court had, on March 16, given the Commissioner of Police, FCT Command, three weeks to produce the defendants for arraignment. The court gave the order after counsel to the nominal complainant, Nkereuwem Akpan, informed the court that the accused persons had evaded service of court processes on them despite several attempts.
The first date for the arraignment of the officials was April 26 but their arraignment fell within the period of the nationwide strike action called by the Judiciary Staff Union (JUSUN).
Soon after the suspension of the 64-day industrial action embarked upon by the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN), the court also fixed July 23, 2021, for their arraignment but was stalled due to the absence of the trial judge.
That necessitated the Magistrate to fix a new date for the arraignment of the defendants on Auust 31st, 2021.
In his prayers before the court, Omosule alleged that the defendants wilfully and maliciously distorted his records to appear as though he does not possess any requisite qualification to be employed at OGFZA or any qualification at all to be considered for promotion.
He insisted that their action was tantamount to forgery and falsification of documents contrary to Section 363 and 364 of the Penal Code, which is detrimental and injurious to his person.
The agency had via a letter dated April 18, 2011, suspended Olufumilayo
Omosule as the Manager of its Abuja office, on the grounds that he refused to comply with its letter dated Dec. 3, 2010, which had directed him to present the originals of his credentials for verification.
Omosule, however, refuted the claim of the authority, stating that he had suffered a terrible fire accident that consumed the originals of his credentials, but made available to the organisation, Certified True Copies (CTCs) of his educational certificates/credentials, including GCE ‘O Level certificates and degree certificates as instructed.
Omosule had claimed that the original of his credentials were misplaced in untraceable circumstances as at 2010 when the report to submit originals was made.
Omosule had been locked in legal battle with his employers, the OGFZA over the legality or otherwise of the his suspension from office as the Abuja Office Manager of the organisation, following the petition he wrote against some management staff to highlight some allegation of corruption against the officials.
He averred that the CTCs of his certificates submitted to the agency were certified by the issuing institutions, which included West African Examination Council and the University of Ado-Ekiti, then Ondo State University, Ado-Ekiti respectively.
The plaintiff is therefore praying for a pronouncement by the court 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.
He is also praying the court for an order directing the defendant to reinstate him to the position of a Director, on grade level 17, a position he claimed his contemporaries were occupying currently.
In the same vein, Omosule is seeking for the order of the court to direct the agency to pay all his outstanding salaries, benefits and entitlement since 2011 when he was suspended from office.
He is asking the court to order his employers, the OGFZA, to pay him the sum of N50m as exemplary and general damages for the period he had been laid off from work till the period the matter would be determined by the court.
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