The richest man in Africa and the 67th richest person in the world, Aliko Dangote, and his cement company have been criticized by the National Industrial Court for mistreating, his employees.
Dangote’s action of withholding a staff member, Mr. Malafa AbdulAzeezpay’s and benefits, has been deemed unlawful, abusive, and oppressive by the presiding judge of the Lokoja Judicial Division of the National Industrial Court, Hon. Justice Oyebiola Oyewumi.
In addition, the judge gave Malafa N645,780.00, or three months’ worth of pay, as damages and N100,000 as the lawsuit’s costs.
The court ruled that an employee is entitled to his or her salary since withholding them would be the equivalent to robbing the person of their life.
The non-payment of Mr. Malafa’s salaries and entitlements, according to Justice Oyewumi, is illegal, unlawful, and unconscionable and needs to be rectified right away.
The claimant, Mr. Malafa AbdulAzeez, stated in his submission that he began working at Dangote Cement in 2003. On May 13, 2019, he was fired, and when he went to the office to finalize the release of his wages and benefits, he was told he will not be paid.
Mr. Malafa argued that the company’s failure to pay his wages and benefits since September 2018 (with the exception of February 2019) is unlawful, abusive, and humiliating.
Dangote Cement, the defendant, did, however, show up in person but did not present any legal arguments in opposition to the lawsuit.
The claimant’s attorney, Nyenke Ikpendu C.J. Esq, argued that the defendant has no defense to the action because the firm failed to call evidence in the case, and his client has established his entitlement to the reliefs sought by making an uncontested statement under oath. He urged the court to grant the requested reliefs.
The presiding judge, Justice Oyebiola Oyewumi, remarked in thoughtful judgment that Dangote Cement’s refusal to cross-examine the claimant despite being given the chance to do so amounted to a tacit endorsement of the veracity of Mr. Malafa’s testimony.
According to Justice Oyewumi, the authority granted to an employer under a master-servant relationship does not include the authority to withhold from an employee his legally collected wages upon the end of service.
“From the above, it is not in doubt that Claimant having worked for the defendant is entitled to be paid and the defendant does not have any power to withhold it and is in law estopped from withholding his salaries and entitlements from him without any justification. An employee is entitled to his wages and he cannot be denied same under any guise or excuse,” the judge said.
With a net worth of $19.2 billion, Dangote was the 97th richest person in the world as of January. The wealthy Nigerian leapfrogged Roman Abramovich, the owner of the Chelsea football club and a well-known Russian businessman, to take the 83rd spot on the list of the 500 richest individuals in the world in February. Abramovich is now 149th on the list.
With an estimated net worth of $20 billion as of March 2022, Dangote rose the rankings to become the 73rd richest person in the planet. His net worth has increased to more than $20.7 billion as a result of the opening of his recently constructed $2.5 billion fertilizer facility in April and the jump in shares of Dangote Cement Behemoth.
Although the 64-year-old Nigerian businessman’s wealth increased by over $1.5 billion this year, employees have continued to complain about the unfavorable working conditions despite the development.
