Ecobank was on Wednesday absolved of any liability towards the 167 staff of the bank laid off in 2023, by the House of Representatives committee on public petitions.
According to Head of Media to the committee, Chooks Oko, the affected staff had petitioned the House to direct the bank to pay it some money they claimed they were being owed. They insisted that some statutory entitlements were not paid to them and based their claim on a proposed agreement they claimed the bank had entered with the bank workers union
Countering their position, Kenneth Okere who represented the bank averred that the bank had discharged itself of all obligations to the affected staff and had even gone out of its way to give them other things they were not ordinarily entitled to.
“The said proposed agreement was a one-off document that clearly dealt with a particular situation and does not apply to them” Okere insisted.
He went ahead to point out to the committee a section of the proposed agreement that clearly stipulated the lifespan of the document. On the other entitlements paid to the petitioners, Okere pointed out that a one year medical insurance was given to them, one month salary in lieu of notice, four months salary and their gratuities.
“My client certainly deserves commendation for going beyond what should be in ensuring the comfort of our former colleagues” Okere retorted.
He noted that the bank went ahead to pay ten percent of their basic salary, housing and transport allowances to each petitioner’s retirement savings account maintained by their individual pension administrators.
The chairman of the committee, Mike Etaba asked the petitioners if they received all that was enumerated by counsel to the respondents. The petitioners affirmed receiving the gestures.
” So what is the issue then? Your petition is based on a faulty document and can not stand. The petition is hereby dismissed for lack of merit” Etaba ruled.
He commended Ecobank management for the gestures extended to the sacked staff noting that ” this is the people’s house. We are here to ensure that no Nigerian suffers injustice whether you are the petitioner or the respondent”.
