The Presiding Judge, Yenagoa Judicial Division of the National Industrial Court, Hon. Justice Bashar Alkali has dismissed the End of Service Bonus in Lieu of gratuity claim by one Mr. Nelson Tuedon against the Nigerian Content Monitoring Board for lack of merit.

Justice Alkali held that Nelson Tuedon did not spend an unbroken period of five years in the employment of the Nigerian Content Monitoring Board as stipulated by Compensation Structure and Policy guidelines put in place by the board and its governing council to make him eligible for the claim of End of Service Bonus in lieu of gratuity.

From facts, the claimant- Mr. Nelson Tuedon had sought for his entitlement for the sum of N47, 108, 203.16 (Forty-Seven Million One Hundred and Eight Thousand Two Hundred and Three Naira Sixteen Kobo) end of service Bonus in lieu of gratuity as provided for under his contract of employment and public service rules amongst others.

He added that he enjoyed an unbroken chain of employment as a contract staff from the 1st of September, 2011 – 30th June, 2018 that before the expiration of the initial term of 1 year contract in 2011, the agency offered him a new 2 years contract and another term of contract for another period of 2 years till 2016.

He submitted that the agency in furtherance of her intention to retain him for a reasonable length of time further offered him another fresh offer of employment before the end of the existing one and extending the previous one for another 6 months till 2018.

In defense, the Nigerian Content Monitoring Board maintained that the said END OF YEAR BONUS IN LIEU OF GRATUITY was meant for permanent full and confirmed staff of the agency only whose employment attract pension and or gratuities and governed by extant Public Service Rules and not for contract staff like Mr. Nelson.

The counsel to the agency maintained further that no contract employment can exceed two (2) years and the new contracts offered to Mr. Nelson Tuedon were short-termed contracts, and each were a brand new, stand-alone contract with definite duration, urged the court to dismiss the case in its entirety.

Delivering the judgment, the presiding Judge, Justice Bashar Alkali held that Nelson Tuedon’s employment was not regulated by the Public Service Rules and he (Nelson Tuedon) never had a 6-year, 10 months contracts with the agency.

Justice Alkali held that each of the Mr. Nelson Tuedon’s Contract Employment with the agency had definite start and termination dates and each of them expired on their respective expiration dates as stated clearly on the face of the Contract offers.