Sixty-two former employees of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) have urged the National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN) in Abuja to reject an application by the apex bank seeking to alter the procedure governing their lawsuit over their disengagement from service.

The request followed a motion filed by the CBN through its lawyer, Mr Wilson Inam, asking the court to convert the originating summons initiated by the claimants into a writ of summons.

While moving the application, Mr Inam argued that the case involved material and contested facts which, in his view, could not be satisfactorily resolved on affidavit evidence alone but would instead require oral testimony from witnesses.

He told the court that the motion, dated November 26, 2025, was properly served on the former staff, noting that they did not file a counter affidavit in response.

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According to the CBN’s counsel, the absence of a counter affidavit amounted to an admission of the facts contained in the bank’s supporting affidavit.

“These are not disputed facts, and they are facts upon which the court cannot reach a decision without oral evidence,” Mr Inam submitted.

In response, counsel to the ex-CBN staff, Mr Ola Olanipekun, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), asked the court to strike out the application, describing it as premature and legally untenable.

Mr Olanipekun acknowledged that no counter affidavit was filed but maintained that the claimants were within their rights to oppose the application strictly on legal grounds.

Citing Order 17, Rule 12 of the NICN Rules, he argued that the first three reliefs sought by the CBN were incompetent because the bank itself failed to file a counter affidavit to the originating summons served on it.

“My learned brother has not responded to our originating process with a counter affidavit. We are also entitled to file a further and better affidavit before this court can fully and properly determine the issues,” he said.

He further contended that where a respondent does not file a counter affidavit, the claimant is entitled to address the court solely on points of law.

According to him, the legal implication of the CBN’s omission was that only the pleadings of the claimants were before the court.

Mr Olanipekun added that even after the bank filed its response, the claimants would still be entitled to submit a further affidavit, stressing that the application was not ripe for determination.

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He relied on Supreme Court authorities in Famfa Oil Ltd v. Attorney-General of the Federation (2003) and National Bank of Nigeria v. Alakija (1978) to argue that courts were empowered to resolve disputes on affidavit evidence where circumstances permitted.

When the presiding judge, Justice Osatohanmwen Obaseki-Osaghae, asked whether the court could act on the proposed counter affidavit attached to the CBN’s application, Mr Olanipekun objected.

“A proposed process is not a process properly before the court because a party may still change its position,” he said.

He added that even if a counter affidavit had been filed, pleadings would not have been deemed closed, as the claimants would still have the right to respond.

Maintaining that the application was premature, Mr Olanipekun urged the court to discountenance it.

Justice Obaseki-Osaghae subsequently adjourned the case to February 10 for ruling.

The former CBN staff had instituted separate suits challenging the termination of their appointments following a reorganisation exercise carried out by the bank.

In one of the actions, the claimants asked the court to set aside their termination letters entitled ‘Re-organisation,’ dated May 23, 2024, arguing that the exercise breached the CBN Act 2007 and the bank’s internal human resources policies.

They are seeking declarations that their employment remains valid as well as orders nullifying the termination letters. They also want the reinstatement to their former or higher positions, and payment of all salaries, allowances and other benefits allegedly lost due to the disengagement.

The court had, on November 27, 2025, imposed a fine of N620,000 on the CBN for delays in the proceedings, a sanction both parties confirmed had been settled.

The claimants insist that their disengagement between February and May 2024 was unlawful and executed without due process, adding that public outcry later forced the bank to introduce an early exit programme.