Court Strikes out N400m Suit by Ex-Veritas Registrars’ Staff against Firm

A Lagos State High Court has struck out the suit filed by a former staff of Veritas Registrars Limited, Pastor Anthony Afuye-Cyrus, against the firm.

In striking out the matter, the court said it lacked jurisdiction to entertain the suit.
Justice L. A. Okunnu held that the suit filed by Afuye-Cyrus is best ventilated at the National Industrial Court, saddled with labour and employment matters.

The aggrieved staff had approached the court for an order seeking the payment of the total sum of N400 million as damages over his sack from the company.

In the suit marked: LD/569CM/2021, the defendant claimed the sum of N200,000,000 as severance benefits and end of service entitlements accruing to his position as the Head, InfoTech, Veritas Registrars Limited.

He is also sought the sum of N150,000,000 as compensation for reporting alleged fraud in the company and for supposed harassment and intimidation by his erstwhile colleagues and employer.

Pastor Afuye-Cyrus also claimed the sum of N50,000,000 as general damages.
Veritas Registrars Limited, in response to the suit, filed a notice of preliminary objection challenging the jurisdiction of the High Court of Lagos State to entertain the suit on the grounds that the subject matter of the suit was under the exclusive purview of the National Industrial Court of Nigeria.

Counsel to the defendant, Moruf Sowunmi, in arguing the objection, submitted that the appropriate court vested with the requisite jurisdiction to hear and determine the suit is the National Industrial Court of Nigeria as the subject matter of the suit is related to labour and employment and urged the court to strike out the suit for lack of jurisdiction.

Sowunmi also argued that the claimant’s response to Veritas Registrars Limited’s objection was incompetent as the said processes were filed outside the time prescribed by the rules of the High Court of Lagos State.
The counsel further argued that the counter affidavit filed by the claimant in opposition to the objection, was filled with arguments and conclusions.

Justice Okunnu, in his ruling, affirmed the submissions of the defendant’s counsel and held that the court did not have the requisite jurisdiction to hear and determine the suit, as the subject matter fell within the exclusive purview of the National Industrial Court of Nigeria.
The court accordingly struck out the suit in its entirety, for lack of jurisdiction.