Adedeji & Ors V. Cbn & Anor (2022)

LAWGLOBAL HUB Lead Judgment Report

KUDIRAT MOTONMORI OLATOKUNBO KEKERE-EKUN, J.S.C. 

This is a cross-appeal against the judgment of the Court of Appeal, Lagos Division delivered on 19th July 2004 wherein the Court held that an action commenced in a representative capacity wherein the plaintiffs failed to obtain the leave of Court to sue in that capacity or failed to obtain the authorization of the represented parties, the action enures as it relates to the named initiators alone.

The genesis of the subject matter of this appeal is the rationalization exercise carried out by the appellant between 1996, 1998 and 10th March 2003, purportedly pursuant to a Federal Government directive, which resulted in the redundancy of the 1st-11th Cross-Appellants and over one thousand other staff of the bank, which according to them was in violation of the Appellant’s enabling laws and Articles 4-6 of its staff manual. Despite representations to various authorities and the setting up of several panels to review the exercise, the exercise was not reversed and the appellant refused to reinstate them.

​Consequently, by an Originating Summons filed on 19th May 2003, the 1st-11th respondents “for themselves and on behalf of the over one thousand staff of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) recently rationalized or relieved of their jobs,” sought the following reliefs against the appellant and the Attorney General of the Federation:

“a. A Declaration that the 1st respondent being an autonomous legal body is not subject to the Federal Government control in its affairs with its staffs (sic).

b. A Declaration that the Federal Government Directives to the 1st Respondent to embark on rationalization of its staff is wholly violative of the 1st respondent’s contractual relationship with its staffs (sic).

c. A Declaration that the 1st Respondent’s rationalization exercise on the “instigation” and “Directive” of the Federal Government between 1996, 1998 and 10th March 2003 is wholly violative of Chapters 4-6 of the 1st respondent’s staff manual.

d. An Order nullifying the purported rationalization exercise conducted by the 1st respondent on “the directives” of the Federal Government (an interloper) who is neither the employer of the applicants nor privy to the contractual relationship existing between the applicants and the 1st respondent.

e. An Order directing the 1st respondent to reinstate the applicants immediately to their respective posts without loss of seniority or benefits.”

The Originating Summons was supported by a 24- paragraph affidavit with several exhibits attached thereto and marked Exhibits A, B, C1-C4, D and E1-E10 respectively. Exhibits E1-E10 are some of the redundancy letters issued to the affected staff. The 1st respondent filed a memorandum of conditional appearance on 30/5/2003 and on 30/6/2003 filed a motion seeking to raise a preliminary objection to the suit and an order dismissing the suit. Both parties filed further processes in support of and in opposition to the application with additional documents exhibited to their respective processes.

The preliminary objection was heard on 15/10/2003. In a considered ruling delivered on 5/11/2003, the application was dismissed. Dissatisfied, the appellant appealed to the Court below. In its judgment delivered on 19/7/2004, the appeal was dismissed with an order that the suit be remitted to the trial Court to be heard on its merit.

​One of the issues raised in the preliminary objection was that the action was incompetent for failure to seek authorization/leave to sue in a representative capacity on behalf of the unnamed parties. As stated earlier in this judgment, the lower Court held, inter alia that the suit was competent only as regards the named parties and that the outcome could not enure in respect of any of the unnamed parties. The cross appellants have filed the instant cross-appeal to challenge this aspect of the judgment. Its notice of cross-appeal filed on 1/3/17 contains a single ground of appeal.

The main appeal filed by the cross respondent was withdrawn and dismissed on 31/1/22.

In respect of the cross-appeal, Dr. Adekunle Ojo, SAN adopted and relied on the Cross Appellants’ brief filed on 30/6/2007 in urging the Court to allow the cross-appeal. He also relied on a list of additional authorities filed on 11/3/2020. OLADIPO TOLANI ESQ. adopted and relied on the Cross Respondent’s brief filed on 6/7/18 in urging the Court to dismiss the cross-appeal.