Industrial Court Orders Pensions Board to Pay Late Air Force Officer’s Benefits to Husband
The National Industrial Court of Nigeria has ordered the Military Pensions Board to immediately pay the death benefits and other entitlements of late Flight Lieutenant Rabiat Muhammed to her husband and Next of Kin, Mr Muhammed.
The court, presided over by Justice Olufunke Anuwe of the Abuja Judicial Division, also awarded N3 million in general damages to Mr Muhammed for the wrongful refusal to pay his late wife’s entitlements, alongside N500,000 in costs against the Military Pensions Board.
Justice Anuwe declared that Mr Muhammed had fulfilled all the requirements for the payment of his deceased wife’s death benefits and other entitlements and was therefore entitled to receive them.
The case arose after Mr Muhammed alleged that his wife died while in active service but that the Chief of Defence Staff and three other defendants refused to release her death benefits despite Nigerian Air Force records identifying him as her husband and Next of Kin.
Mr Muhammed told the court that he had complied with the requirements communicated to him by the Military Pensions Board and attended an interview with the Next of Kin Standing Committee alongside his family.
He argued that the demand for him to produce a “credible family member” of his late wife was not contained in the Guidelines on Administration of Military Pensions for Personnel of the Armed Forces of Nigeria.
He further maintained that the defendants’ records recognised him as the deceased officer’s husband and Next of Kin, while identifying Muiz Muhammed as her son and Alternative Next of Kin.
In response, the Chief of Defence Staff challenged the competence of the suit, filing a preliminary objection seeking, among other reliefs, an order striking out its name from the case, declining jurisdiction and dismissing the suit on the grounds that it constituted an abuse of court process.
The Chief of Defence Staff argued that Mr Muhammed had previously instituted a similar action at the Federal High Court, which was subsequently transferred to the National Industrial Court for reassignment.
Meanwhile, the Chief of Air Staff and two other defendants maintained that Mr Muhammed had not fulfilled the requirements for the payment of the deceased officer’s entitlements.
The defendants argued that he had failed to produce a credible member of the deceased’s family and had not established that Muiz Muhammed was the biological child of the late officer.
Counsel to the Chief of Air Staff and two other defendants also argued that the Military Pensions Board was entitled to verify the authenticity of Mr Muhammed’s claim as Next of Kin and confirm the validity of the documents submitted before making payment.
However, counsel to Mr Muhammed, J. A. Mustapha, Esq., argued that his client had met all the necessary requirements and that the defendants could not introduce additional conditions that were not provided for under the applicable guidelines.
In her judgment, Justice Anuwe dismissed the preliminary objection filed by the Chief of Defence Staff, ruling that the suit did not constitute an abuse of court process.
The judge explained that the matter before the court was the same case transferred from the Federal High Court for reassignment and not a separate action instituted by Mr Muhammed.
Justice Anuwe noted that the applicable guidelines empowered the Next of Kin Standing Committee to invite and interview Next of Kin to verify their identities and establish the correctness of the documents submitted.
However, she held that the guidelines did not require a Next of Kin to attend the interview with a family member of the deceased officer.
The court ruled that the Military Pensions Board could not unilaterally impose an additional condition on Mr Muhammed when such a requirement was not contained in the guidelines.
Justice Anuwe described the demand for another member of the deceased officer’s family to verify Mr Muhammed’s identity as an unnecessary and malicious bottleneck imposed by the Chief of Defence Staff and the other defendants.
The judge further held that Mr Muhammed had satisfied the requirements for payment of his late wife’s death benefits, noting that, apart from the disputed demands for a family member and proof of the child’s relationship with the deceased, the defendants had not identified any other outstanding requirement.
The court also declared that neither the Military Pensions Board nor any of the other defendants had the right to interfere with how Mr Muhammed shared, utilised or disposed of the death benefits and other entitlements of his late wife, Flight Lieutenant Rabiat Muhammed.
