A Salary entitlement claim by Prof Ndukaeze Nwabueze against Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, has been dismissed by Justice Sinmisola Adeniyi of the National Industrial Court of Nigeria for lacking merit.
The Judge held that Nwabueze was not entitled to the reliefs that he sought as his sabbatical appointment with the University came to an end due to frustration.
He said “As contained in Exhibit C1, the claimant’s sabbatical appointment is non-renewable, it commenced on March 9, 2020, and was to end on March 8, 2021, that is, a period of one year.
“Therefore, the claimant has not completed the documentation to place him on the payroll of the first defendant for his salary before the Covid-19 lockdown and ASUU strike and has not resumed lectures until Feb.8, 2021, which was a month to the end of his sabbatical appointment.
” The defendants have validly raised the defence of frustration of contract”, the court held.
Nwabueze submitted that his employment by the University was a full-time sabbatical appointment for a year, adding that following his assumption to duty the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) embarked on strike, coupled with the lockdowns occasioned by the COVID-19 global pandemic which resulted to the consequent shutting of public institutions.
Nwabueze urged the court to grant the reliefs sought, while averring that just after the suspension of the strike action by ASUU in Jan. 2021, he resumed duty and began lectures, pointing out that ABU refused to pay his salary despite his demands.
ABU and its Governing Council held that Nwabueze failed to discharge his obligations under the contract as same was frustrated by the ASUU strike and Covid-19 lockdown.
Abubakar Is’haq who was the defendants’ counsel contended that the claimant was only introduced to the students on Feb.8, 2021, but did not lecture and never completed his documentation after assumption of duty.
While opposing, Nwabueze’s counsel, Prosper Akubue acquiesced that neither the ASUU strike nor Covid-19 lockdown constitutes supervening events that can be said to have exasperated his client’s sabbatical appointment.
Thus, he stressed another staff of ABU was paid during the same period therefore, those events did not disentitle his client from being paid the arrears of his salaries.
On its part, the court held that irrespective of the wishes of the parties, a contract that is discharged on the ground of frustration is brought to an end automatically by the operation of law.
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The court also ruled that the defendants had legitimately brought up the defense of contract frustration, stating that while the University’s other employees’ jobs were full-time and governed by statute, Nwabueze’s job was governed by his letter of appointment.
