The National Industrial Court, Abuja, on Thursday threatened to strike out a suit filed by the former Chief Judge of Abia, Justice Kalu Amah (rtd), challenging non-payment of entitlements.
At the last adjourned date, the first defence counsel, Izu Omokwe had informed the court that an out of court settlement was on going.
Omokwe said that the State Attorney-General had written to the Chief Judge for computation of the claimant’s entitlements.
However, at the resumed sitting on Thursday, Izu urged the court to strike out the matter for lacking in diligent prosecution on the part of the claimant.
She said the claimant’s counsel had failed on several occasions to show up for deliberation for parties to explore out of court settlement.
The judge, Justice Sanusi Kado, therefore said if by next adjourned date, the claimant is not represented in court, the matter would be struck out.
He further adjourned the matter until Sept. 30 for hearing and also directed that hearing notice should be served on the claimant and prove of service be kept in the case file.
News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that joined in the suit as co-defendants are Abia State Government and Attorney-General of Abia as first and second defendant respectively.
The claimant, Justice Amah, who was the CJ of Abia from 1998 to 2006, instituted the suit against the defendants over alleged non-payment of his gratuity and pension benefits after his retirement in 2011 when he attained the mandatory retirement age.
NIALS' Compendia Series: Your One-Stop Solution For Navigating Nigerian Laws (2004-2023)
Email: info@nials.edu.ng, tugomak@yahoo.co.uk, Contact: For Inquiry and information, kindly contact, NIALS Director of Marketing: +2348074128732, +2348100363602.