The Lagos division of the National Industrial Court of Nigeria, has ruled against United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc in a protracted employment dispute, declaring the exit of a former branch manager, Mrs. Emelda Azuka Okereke, as wrongful and amounting to constructive dismissal.
Justice Sanda Audu Yelwa who presided over the court in a judgment delivered on April 29, 2026, held that the bank’s actions, including backdating an “advice to resign” letter and reversing previously paid benefits were unlawful, oppressive, and inconsistent with fair labour practices.
The judge consequently awarded the claimant a total sum of N9.122, 035.72 million in general damages, alongside other financial entitlements and interest in favour of the claimant.
The claimant, Mrs. Emelda Azuka Okereke through her lawyer, Olabamiji Adeyeye, had in a suit marked NICN/LA/455/2020, filed in November 2020, stemmed from events in January of that year when Okereke, after returning from annual leave, discovered she had been locked out of her work system. On the same day, she received a credit alert labelled as “benefits,” signaling an impending exit.
She was subsequently invited to a meeting where she was advised to resign, an option she resisted, requesting formal termination instead.
Central to the case was a letter titled “Advice to Resign,” dated January 3 but only issued to the claimant on January 9. The court found this backdating to be fraudulent and a key factor in establishing that the resignation submitted by Okereke on January 10 was not voluntary but induced by the bank’s conduct.
The defendant, UBA Plc in its Preliminary Objection to the suit filed through its lawyer, Vitus Nwokediaso, argued that the claimant failed to exhaust internal dispute resolution mechanisms outlined in its employee handbook.
In deciding the suit, Justice Yelwa, dismissed the bank’s objection, describing the provisions as “uncertain and clumsy,” and an impediment to the constitutional right of access to court. It reaffirmed that internal procedures cannot override judicial authority in labour matters.
The judge ruled that the sequence of events, blocking system access, issuing inconsistent disengagement letters, and reversing credited benefits, demonstrated that the bank had predetermined the claimant’s exit without following due process. “These acts made the working environment intolerable and left the claimant with no real option but to resign,” the court held.
In conclusion, the court awarded the sum of N5 million damages against the bank in favour of the claimant.
The judge also ordered the bank to pay Okereke N179,277.01 as salary in lieu of notice and N78,343.26 as her January 2020 salary. It also awarded N3.32 million for 64 days of unused leave, along with leave allowance and a 13th-month bonus.
The court also directed the reversal of all debits and interest charges applied to the claimant’s account, including deductions tied to a consumer loan. While it held that the loan was insured against involuntary job loss and that the bank breached its duty by failing to invoke the insurance before making deductions.
The court further awarded N500,000 as the cost of the suit and imposed a 10 percent annual interest on all monetary awards from January 10, 2020, until full payment is made.
The court, however, declined claims for ex-gratia payments and additional concessions, ruling that such benefits were not contractually guaranteed.
