The Lagos division of the National Industrial Court, has ordered Bell Oil & Gas Limited to pay its former employee, Mrs Amaka Usman, a total sum of N10.2 million in outstanding sales bonus, gratuity and legal costs.
Justice A.N. Ubaka, in a judgment delivered judgment on September 30, 2026, awarded Usman N4,097,508.30 as the balance of her sales bonus, N5.67 million as gratuity and N500,000 as costs.
The judge also ordered the company to pay the sums within 14 days, warning that failure to comply would attract interest at 15 per cent per annum until the judgment debt is fully settled.
Usman through her lawyers, O. O Omole and Kemi Sodipe, had approached the court in a suit marked NICN/LA/52/2020, seeking payment of outstanding entitlements following her resignation from the company in February 2017.
During the trial of the case, the claimant told the court that she was employed as a Business Development Executive on February 1, 2007, and later rose to the position of Business Development Manager.
The claimant also told the court that she earned a sales bonus of $26,267.94 in 2012 after meeting her sales target but received payments in two instalments in 2019, calculated at the exchange rate of N150 to the dollar.
She further argued that the company should have calculated the outstanding balance using the prevailing exchange rate of N306 to the dollar in 2019.
She therefore prayed the court for payment of N5.67 million as gratuity and N1.417 million as a 10-year long-service award.
However, the respondent, Bell Oil & Gas in its defence, through its team of lawyers who include, O. O Adeleye, C. S Oraemeka and O. Eruen, argued that it had fully settled the sales bonus based on the exchange rate applicable when the debt arose.
The company also maintained that Usman was not entitled to the long-service award because she was no longer in its employment at the end of February 2017.
In resolving the dispute, Justice Ubaka held that using the 2012 exchange rate for the payment made in 2019 would occasion a miscarriage of justice.
The judge therefore calculated the outstanding bonus at N4,097,508.30 million, and held that the claimant had established her entitlement to gratuity based on her employment records and salary slip.
The judge however, dismissed the claimant’s claim for the 10-year long-service award, ruling that she was no longer an employee when the award became payable under the company’s policy.
The judge also refused her claim for pre-judgment interest at 21 per cent but ordered 15 per cent annual interest on the judgment sums if the company failed to pay within 14 days.