NIPOST Postmaster General Faces Contempt Proceedings over Alleged Disobedience of Court Judgment

The National Industrial Court in Abuja has been urged to jail the Postmaster General of the Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST), Tola Odeyemi, for allegedly disobeying an earlier judgment on salaries and entitlements in favour of a former staff member.

The National Industrial Court in Abuja has been urged to jail the Postmaster General of the Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST), Tola Odeyemi, for allegedly disobeying an earlier judgment on salaries and entitlements in favour of a former staff member.

This is according to Form 48 and Form 49, dated February 23, 2026, filed by Akpama Ekwe, counsel to Sandra Saidu, a woman whose appointment was allegedly terminated in 2004.

The Postmaster General and NIPOST were listed as judgment debtors in the court processes seen by Nairametrics.

What they are saying

Saidu, through her lawyer’s court processes, maintained that unless the official obeys the orders contained in the attached judgment of Justice Z.B. Haastrup of the National Industrial Court, sitting in Abuja, “you will be guilty of contempt of court and will be liable to be committed to prison.”

The lawyer, referencing the subsisting judgment, argued that the termination of the claimant’s employment through compulsory retirement was declared illegal because due process was not followed.

• “The Claimant shall be reinstated to the position she would have been in but for her unlawful compulsory retirement, and she shall be paid all her salaries, emoluments, and entitlements from the date of her purported compulsory retirement until the date of this judgment,” the judgment partly reads.

The lawyer argued that, by the previous order, the court set aside the claimant’s purported compulsory retirement by the defendants for having been carried out retrospectively.

Nairametrics gathered that the case has been adjourned to July 15, 2026, for the Postmaster General to show cause why she should not be committed to prison for the alleged disobedience of court orders.

Backstory

The case borders on entitlement claims and counterclaims involving NIPOST.

Before the February 23, 2026, judgment, NIPOST and the Postmaster General filed their defence against the claims.

The defendants argued that Saidu, who was employed in 1993, was transferred from Lagos to the agency’s Bauchi State headquarters in 2004 and was expected to report there in April 2004 but failed to do so until more than a month later, prompting a report by her Area Manager and the issuance of a query.

The defendants further stated that despite this, the claimant applied for another casual leave on September 6, 2004, which was granted, but she again failed to report for duty, citing medical reasons without providing any medical report or supporting evidence.

The agency further accused the claimant of absconding from her duty post for 17 years, from 2004 to 2021, only to reappear demanding reinstatement and payment of salary arrears.

However, the claimant urged the court to determine whether the defendants followed due process in compulsorily retiring her and whether she was entitled to general damages.

Delivering judgment in February 2026, the court ruled in favour of the former staff member and ordered NIPOST to pay the claimant all her outstanding salaries and entitlements from October 2004 until the date of the judgment.

What you should know

Contempt proceedings are usually commenced following allegations that a party has disobeyed or failed to comply with a court judgment or order.

The development adds to the list of entitlement-related disputes involving public authorities.

Nairametrics previously reported that three former staff members of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) commenced committal proceedings against the BPE Director-General, Ayodeji Gbeleyi, over his alleged refusal to comply with a subsisting judgment of the National Industrial Court in Abuja regarding their over 20-year-old N112 million pension and gratuity claims.