The Lagos division of the National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN), has ordered the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) Plc to pay years of accumulated salaries and benefits amounting to Over N30 million, to its 19 workers, who were illegally asked by the company.
The court judgment, delivered on March 16, 2026, by Justice S. H. Danjidda, bringing to an end a long-running dispute between the victorious workers and the company, which lasted for nearly two decades.
In the judgment, Justice Danjidda ruled that the victorious workers, who were initially engaged as technical trainees, are legally recognized as employees of the authority and entitled to full remuneration and associated benefits.
The claimants in the suit are: Kuje Alanana Godwin, Sadi Lawan Danbazau, Abubakar Haruna (1st, 2nd and 3rd claimants are suing for themselves and for 19th others who included: Amida Shansideen, Shuaibu Ibrahim, Dabo Oju Kemuel, Ndiyo George, Muhammed Abdullahi, YUndie Nehemiah. A., Dogara Akubu, Musa A. Wadi, Reuben Agbanatus, Philip Ndu Dongo, John Wasinda, Yakubu Simeon, Aminu Tukur, Dairus Dedan and Mary Bala.
All the Claimants through their lawyers, C. R. Chinweze and Destina Dalumo, have filed the suit in 2019, alleging that after completing their training programme in 2007, the NPA failed to deploy them to appropriate departments and stopped paying their salaries and allowances.
They sought declarations affirming their employment status and demanded over ₦671 million in accumulated entitlements, alongside damages.
In respond to the Claimants suit, NPA Plc through its lawyers, N. O. O. Oke (SAN) who led the dou of M. I. Olotorunmo Waju and A. A. Sanni, argued that the claimants were merely trainees whose engagement ended following the closure of its Technical Training Centre in 2006.
The company also contended that the suit was statute-barred under provisions of an earlier Ports Act.
In determine the suit, Justice Danjidda dismissed the objection raised by NPA Plc, holding that the cited law had been repealed and could not be relied upon to defeat the suit. Hence the judg affirmed that the court had jurisdiction to hear the matter.
On the substantive issues, the court found that the claimants had successfully demonstrated, through documentary evidence and conduct of the defendant, that they were indeed employees.
The judge noted that the NPA issued them staff identity cards, paid salaries, enrolled them in pension schemes, and recalled them after an earlier closure of the training school, actions which established an employer-employee relationship.
The court further held that although the claimants were initially placed on probation, the NPA’s failure to either confirm or terminate their appointments within the stipulated period meant their employment was automatically confirmed by operation of law.
Justice Danjidda described the NPA’s continued refusal to deploy and remunerate the workers as a “clear breach” of contractual and statutory obligations. He ruled that their purported disengagement did not follow due process and was therefore null and void.
Consequently, the judge ordered the NPA to immediately deploy the claimants to appropriate departments and place them on the correct cadre levels.
The judge also directed the authority to pay each claimant monthly salaries of ₦38,132 from April 2007 to the date of judgment, alongside annual leave and Christmas bonuses for the same period.
In addition, the court awarded ₦20 million in general damages for the hardship suffered by each of the claimants and ₦2 million as litigation costs.
The judgment sum is to attract 10 percent annual interest until fully paid.
However, the court declined to grant reliefs relating to automatic promotions and additional compensation tied to hypothetical career progression, stating that promotion remains a privilege, not a right.
