Ex-BPE Staff Initiate Contempt Proceedings Against DG Over ₦112m Pension Judgment
Three former employees of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) have commenced committal proceedings against the agency’s Director-General, Ayodeji Gbeleyi, for allegedly refusing to comply with a subsisting judgment of the National Industrial Court, Abuja, which awarded them pension and gratuity entitlements valued at ₦112 million.
The proceedings were initiated through a Form 48 (“Notice of Consequences of Disobedience to Orders of Court”) dated 23 February 2026, filed by their counsel, Akpama Ekwe, on behalf of Mr. Mohammed S. Liadi, Chief U. Okpa-Obaji, and Mr. A.O. Sadiq. The notice warns the DG that failure to obey the judgment of Hon. Justice O.Y. Anuwe would render him liable for contempt of court and possible committal to prison.
The claimants, who joined the Technical Committee on Privatisation and Commercialisation (TCPC), later transformed into the BPE, in 1988, 1989, and 1991 respectively, had sued the BPE and the Attorney General of the Federation in 2021. They sought declarations affirming their entitlement to pension and gratuity under Section 18(1) of the Public Enterprises (Privatisation and Commercialisation) Act 2004, and an order compelling payment.
In its 2021 judgment, the National Industrial Court upheld their claims, describing the BPE’s refusal to pay since 2000 as “cruel, repugnant and condemnable.” The court ordered the agency to compute and pay the entitlements within 30 days, in addition to ₦10 million in damages for the prolonged denial.
The BPE had argued that the suit was statute-barred, contending that the claimants resigned in 2000 and only filed their action in 2020. However, the court held that pension and gratuity rights are constitutionally guaranteed and cannot be extinguished by limitation statutes.
The BPE’s subsequent appeal was struck out by the Court of Appeal on 14 January 2026, with a three-man panel led by Justice Balkisu Aliyu ruling that the notice of appeal was incompetent, having been filed without the requisite leave of court.
With the appellate court’s decision, the Industrial Court’s orders remain binding. The contempt proceedings against the DG are now pending, though no date has yet been fixed for hearing.
