Court
The National Industrial Court, Abuja, on Thursday affirmed the dismissal of one Hauwa’u Idirisu, from Union Bank, over her involvement in fraudulent pension fund transactions as lawful.
Idirisu, was dismissed for gross misconduct when it was discovered that her password was used to upload files that contained fraudulent deductions and diversions on a Military Pension Fund account.
In her judgment, Justice Rakiya Haastrup, said the claimant challenged her dismissal as unlawful on the ground that she was not involved in the alleged fraud.
Haastrup said the claimant also claimed that she was neither queried nor appeared before any disciplinary committee before her dismissal.
The judge said that the evidence before the court, however, proved that the claimant authorised, released and permitted the use of her password to a third party.
She added that the password was used to upload transactions that turned out to be fraudulent, which caused the bank some financial losses.
The judge said that under the password secrecy undertaking the claimant signed, she was expected to keep her password secret.
The judge also said evidence before the court was contrary to the claimant’s assertion that she was not accorded fair hearing before her dismissal.
She said there was a memo which the claimant replied to, and also a report from staff disciplinary committee which indicted her.
She said there was no evidence before the court brought by the claimant sufficient to support her claim of unlawful dismissal.
The judge said that all the reliefs sought by the claimant in the suit all failed in its entirety and accordingly dismissed the suit.
The claimant’s counsel, Peace Ogbonna, had urged the court to declare her client’s dismissal as unlawful, pay her salaries and allowances from the time of her dismissal in 2012 until judgment.
Ogbonna also sought payment of general damages to the tune of N50 million for her client.
