Hon. Justice Yakubu Hassan of the Ibadan Judicial Division of the National Industrial Court has dismissed the suit filed by one Oluyemisi against Water Corporation of Oyo State, Attorney-General & Commissioner for Justice, and Oyo State Pensions Board for being statute-barred and for want of jurisdiction.
The Court held that Oluyemisi failed to institute her action within the period prescribed by the Limitation Law of Oyo State and consequently lost the right to enforce her claims before the Court.
From facts, the claimant, Oluyemisi, had submitted that she was employed by the Water Corporation of Oyo State in 1977, her employment was then confirmed in 1979, and she rose through the ranks to become a Senior Officer before her suspension in August 2000 following allegations of misconduct.
Oluyemisi added that she was charged before the High Court of Oyo State and was discharged and acquitted. While the appeal filed against her acquittal was dismissed, the Water Corporation of Oyo State failed to recall her from suspension or pay her entitlements until she attained retirement age in 2012.
Therefore, Oluyemisi sought several declaratory and monetary reliefs, including a declaration that her suspension without pay for over twelve years was unlawful, payment of accumulated salaries and allowances, gratuity, pension arrears, leave allowances, lifetime pension, interest on judgment sum, and general and exemplary damages totalling over seventeen million naira.
In defence, Water Corporation of Oyo State and others maintained that Oluyemisi was never dismissed from service but absconded from duty and failed to honour several official invitations and communications issued to her.
Counsel to the Defendants further argued that Oluyemisi’s suit was statute-barred as it was filed several years after the cause of action arose and urged the Court to dismiss the case in its entirety.
In opposition, counsel to Oluyemisi strongly posited that the Water Corporation of Oyo State and others took his client and others to court, and that the court delivered a ruling in 2014, and that the Defendant went further to appeal that decision. Consequently, Counsel contended that it shows that the Statute of Limitation cannot fly, and urged the court to discountenance the plea of Statute of Limitation in the interest of justice.
In a well-considered Judgment, Hon. Justice Yakubu Hassan held that limitation of action is a jurisdictional issue that can be raised at any stage of proceedings and need not be specifically pleaded before it can be relied upon.
The Court held that the suspension of Oluyemisi in August 2000 did not terminate her employment and therefore did not constitute the date when the cause of action arose.
The Court held that the cause of action arose in 2012 when Oluyemisi had attained retirement age while still on suspension and ought to have sought legal redress immediately after her retirement, and that Oluyemisi’s institution of action in October 2017 was outside the five-year limitation period prescribed by the Limitation Law of Oyo State.
Justice Hassan noted that the argument of the Claimant’s Counsel that the criminal prosecution of his client has postponed the accrual of cause of action till after the determination of the appeal, does not reflect the true position of the law, and held that the pendency of criminal proceedings did not prevent Mrs. Oluyemisi Asunmo from instituting a civil action since civil and criminal proceedings may run concurrently.
The Court dismissed the entire suit and ordered that each party shall bear its own costs.