A Court of Appeal sitting in Lagos has ordered the Federal Government to pay Mr Nnabuihe Onyebueke all salaries and other employment benefits withheld from him for nearly 15 years after his salary was stopped in 2003.
  
The appellate court, in a judgment that overturned the decision of the National Industrial Court (NIC), held that the stoppage of an employee’s salary could not, in itself, be construed as dismissal, termination or suspension of his employment.
  
The court consequently held that Onyebueke remained an employee of the Federal Government until his retirement in May 2018, having completed the prescribed 35 years in service.
  
The judgment followed an appeal arising from a suit filed by Onyebueke at the NIC in June 2021, in which he sought payment of his outstanding salaries, leave bonuses, gratuity and pension benefits.
  
Onyebueke was employed into the Federal Civil Service in 1983 and posted to the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing.
  
According to the facts of the case, he developed a mental health condition in 2002 which prevented him from participating in a compulsory staff verification exercise conducted by the Federal Government.
  
Although his employer was reportedly informed of his condition, his salary was stopped in December 2003 and he was subsequently classified as a “ghost worker”.
  
The records before the court showed that there was, however, no formal termination or suspension of his employment.
  
Rather, he remained on the establishment of the Federal Civil Service and subsequently completed 35 years in service before retiring in May 2018.
  
It was against this background that Onyebueke approached the NIC in 2021, seeking payment of the salaries and other benefits which accrued to him during the period he remained in government employment.
  
The trial court, however, dismissed the action on the ground that it was statute-barred.
 
The NIC reasoned that the cause of action arose when the appellant’s salary was stopped in December 2003 and that his failure to commence proceedings within the period prescribed by the applicable limitation law deprived the court of jurisdiction to entertain the claims.
  
Dissatisfied with the decision, Onyebueke appealed to the Court of Appeal, challenging, among other things, the finding that his claims were statute-barred.
  
In allowing the appeal, the appellate court disagreed with the position of the NIC, holding that the stoppage of Onyebueke’s salary did not bring his employment relationship with the Federal Government to an end.
  
The court drew a distinction between non-payment of salary and the legal acts necessary to terminate or suspend an employment relationship.
  
It held that where an employer has neither terminated nor suspended an employee in accordance with the applicable conditions of service, the mere withholding of salary cannot, without more, convert the employee into a former employee.
  
The implication, according to the court, was that Onyebueke continued to be in the service of the Federal Government until his retirement in May 2018.
  
The court further held that the continued withholding of his salary constituted a continuing injury, rather than an isolated act that occurred only in December 2003.

Consequently, the failure to pay his remuneration remained an actionable wrong throughout the period during which his employment subsisted.
  
The appellate court also considered the effect of Onyebueke’s mental health condition on the limitation issue.
  
It held that mental ill-health, in the circumstances established before the court, constituted a legal disability capable of preventing the limitation period from operating against him in the manner argued by the respondent.
 
The court therefore rejected the contention that the passage of time between the stoppage of his salary in 2003 and the commencement of his action in 2021 automatically extinguished his right to seek redress.
 
The appellate court subsequently set aside the judgment of the National Industrial Court.
  
It ordered that Onyebueke be paid his withheld salaries covering the period from December 2003 to May 2018, when he retired from the Federal Civil Service.
  
The court also directed the payment of his full leave bonuses, gratuity and pension entitlements arising from his employment.