In a significant ruling for labour relations and contract enforcement, the National Industrial Court of Nigeria, sitting in Abuja, has ordered the Digital Bridge Institute (DBI) to compute and pay 14 years’ worth of terminal benefits to its former manager, Mr Reginald Iregbu.
The judgment, delivered on 16 January 2026 by Hon. Justice R. B. Haastrup, brings an end to a protracted legal battle over which conditions of service should govern the exit of long-term employees.
Mr Iregbu, who was employed in 2005 and promoted to manager in 2014, had his appointment terminated on 6th March 2019. The termination followed his refusal to sign a new set of 2016 conditions of service, which the institute had mandated as a requirement to receive a 50% salary increase.
The court found that because Iregbu had ‘expressly by conduct rejected” the new terms and ‘already suffered the consequence thereof’, through termination, the institute could not then use those same rejected terms to calculate his exit pay.
Justice Haastrup ruled that the 2003 Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) Staff Conditions of Service, which were handed to Iregbu at the time of his employment, remained the binding legal framework for his benefits.
The defendants in the suit, Digital Bridge Institute and the NCC, had attempted to have the case dismissed by arguing that it was a repeat of a 2014 lawsuit (Suit No. NICN/ABJ/351/2014).
The judge dismissed the arguement, noting that while the parties were similar, the subject matter was distinct. The earlier suit focused on accrued salaries and allowances, whereas the current action was strictly a claim for terminal benefits limited to pension and gratuity that had not yet been decided.
While the court ruled in favour of Mr. Iregbu in ‘totality’, it, however, refused to grant his specific request for N70,000,000 as terminal benefit.
The judge explained that such a claim falls under ‘special damages’, which requires a claimant to provide ‘parameters and specific figures’ to prove the exact sum. Since the details were not provided, the court instead ordered the computation of gratuity ordering DBI to compute and pay the total gratuity due to Iregbu based on the approved 2003 NCC rates for senior staff (Cadre SS1-7) as of March 2019.
It also ordered that DBI must pay his accumulated pension from March 2019 until the date of the judgment and continue payments as required by law.
The court further ordered that if the institute fails to comply with the judgment, a 10% annual interest rate will apply to all sums due to Iregbu until the debt is fully liquidated.
Meanwhile, Iregbu’s request for N10,000,000 to cover his legal fees, failed as the court exercised its judicial discretion to rather award sum of N500,000 against DBI to cover the legal fees spent by Iregbu on the matter.
Justice Haastrup noted that while ‘cost follows events’ and a successful party is entitled to recover expenses, the court must act ‘judicially and judiciously’ in determining the final amount.
The ruling serves as a stern reminder to employers that staff conditions of service handed over at the time of employment are binding contracts and cannot be unilaterally altered to the detriment of an employee’s terminal entitlements.
