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The National Industrial Court, Abuja has dismissed ex- Adamawa governor, Bala Nggilari’s suit for payment of pension and other benefits, for lack of proof.
Nggilari, the claimant, was the deputy governor, then governor of Adamawa between May 29, 2007 and May 29, 2015.
He instituted the suit against the State Government and Attorney General of the State, by way of complaint and statement of facts on Nov. 17, 2015. In the complaint, he averred that according to Sections 3 and 6 of the Adamawa State Governor’s Pension ( Amendment) Law 2010, he was entitled to pension and gratuity for life.
However, he said since the completion of his tenure, he had not been paid his pension and gratuity, hence the commencement of the action against the defendants and praying the court for some reliefs.
In defence, the defendants averred that the section of the law, which was the threshold of the claimant’s case was null and void as it was made without the amount granted as pension and gratuity being determined and fixed by the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission.
Justice Benedict Kanyip delivering the judgment read by Justice Sanusi Kado said “the claimant’s claims are for pension, gratuity and other post-office entitlements, all of which qualified as special damages. The law is that a claim for special damages must be pleaded and particularised so that the defendant will know what he is meeting. The claims for gratuity, pension, housing fund, salary are all special damages and must be proved. Where a claimant fails in this test, the claim must fail.”
