The National Industrial Court, has dismissed a suit filed by the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) Management Board against Bluebells School, for lack of proof.
Justice Sanusi Kado delivering judgment stated that the Employees Compensation Plan Act claim as instituted by the claimant ( NSITF) Management Board
suffered from paucity of facts required for proof of the claim.
Justice Kado also ruled that that the vital information needed were not made available to the court.
The court stated that there was no evidence to prove that the defendant was an employer of labour under the Employee Compensation Act.
Kado further held that there was nothing before the court to show existence of staff in the employment of the defendant.
“Due to lack of adequate facts supplied by the claimant to prove that defendant is an employer of labour as no evidence of the existence of members of staff have been placed before the court
“Absence of quantum of claim and any assessment of the quantum, the claim of the claimant failed for lack of proof and same is hereby dismissed”, the judge ruled.
The court also held that failure of the defendant to file defense did not translate to automatic judgment for the claimant.
The judge said that the law still required the claimant to meet up with minimal proof for it to be entitled to judgment.
From facts, the claimant had submitted that by Employees Compensation Act, every employer shall furnish them with a complete and accurate estimate of the probable amount of the payroll of each of the employer’s industries.
The claimant in addition submitted that the failure of the school to do so had necessitated instituting the suit against it.
The claimant therefore sought amongst other reliefs for an order of the court to compel the defendant to grant its officers access to their total monthly payroll from September 2016 up to date.
The claimant stated that the access will be for purpose of assessing the firm’s minimum monthly contribution of 10 percent of the total monthly payroll.
The claimant averred that the claimant had been operating its educational business since 2016 but failed to key into the Employee Compensation Scheme.
The claimant equally urged the court to grant the reliefs sought
The defendant on its part failed to file a defense despite being represented by a counsel.
The court however after the evaluation of the claimant’s submission held that the reliefs sought by the claimant clearly revealed claims of declaration and special damages which required strict proof. ( NAN)
