Gabriel Udeh
The 324 terminated staffs of Bank of Agriculture, BOA, with headquarters in Kaduna has finally resolved to go to Court with the bank to seek redress for alleged unpaid severance.
The bank stated that it has nothing to pay the sacked staff more than the severance benefits paid them earlier, amounting to 1.1bn.
The sacked staff, numbering about four, disclosed this to journalists in an interview in Kaduna after meeting with the chairman of Nigeria Union journalists, Kaduna State council, Comrade Adamu Yusuf.
Speaking, spokespersons of the five interviewed sacked staff, Jacob Dangana said some senior manager staffs sacked three months before their termination suffered the same faith, and were paid by the new salary structure when they went to court.
But Mr. Oluremi Olaoye, the head of Cooperate communications told our correspondent that the bank has nothing to settle them again.
Dangana lamented that “83 senior staff sacked 3 months before we went through the same thing that’s happened to us, they went to court and the management staff called them and pay them their entitlements based on the new salary structure, and the last person got nothing less than N20 million – N30 million. Before then they were paid by the old salary structure and least was about N6 million that was paid to them.
“When we remind them, they said the management staff can decide to pay us in any salary structure they want”, they lamented.
Olaoye, however, denied allegation when contacted saying the bank did not pay based on any structure as being speculated by the sacked staff.
On what will be the next line of action, the affected staff said they appeal to the legal representative on the option of going to court as opined by the Bank staff.
The sacking of the 324 staff occurred since 2011, and have continued to dragged back and front, between the bank and the sacked staff, till yesterday, with staff alleging they have been replaced with children of the top management staff of the BOA after unjustly terminated of 324 from the office.
BOA management staff led by Managing Director MD,/CEO, Alhaji Kabir Mohammed Adamu said the bank spent N1.1bn to settle the severance of the terminated staff, but the affected staffs disagreed saying, they were wrongly paid, and with old salary structure even when they enjoyed the new structure while in office before termination.
Contacted, the bank spokesperson said some detail with regard to replacing staff would be made available the journalists next time in full, saying he was not aware of certain things, but employed the wife of a son of a management staff as claimed.
