Court Cannot Factor Terms Absent From Written Contract,” Says Justice Adeniyi In Mr. Faith Vs. Niger Delta Power Holding Case

Justice Adeniyi dismissed the contentions of Mr. Faith that his appointment had been renewed by the conduct of Niger Delta Power Holding after its expiration, and held that without an express contract, the contract of Mr. Faith had become terminated and invalid with Niger Delta Power Holding from 1st of July 2019.

From facts, the Claimant- Mr. Faith had submitted that the Niger Delta Power Holding Ltd had by its conduct renewed his contract after it had expired. Mr. Faith further alleged that after being placed on suspension pending the investigation of allegations levelled against him he was not invited by the firm to any investigative panel or the report of the investigation made available to him in spite of his several requests.

Mr. Faith maintained that his contract renewed or created by the conduct of the Niger Delta Power Holding Ltd remains extant and subsisting, and urged the Court to grant the reliefs sought.

In defence, the defendant- Niger Delta Power Holding Co Ltd posited that Mr. Faith was never assigned any duty or performed any duty for the firm after his contract expired and that no investigation was conducted against Mr. Faith or was he suspended or found guilty of any offence.

The Niger Delta Power Holding Ltd averred that the internal memorandum to Mr. Faith redeploying him to the Headquarters in Abuja within the subsistence of an existing contract was never in any manner, a letter to renew his appointment by conduct, but a mere recall from duty post and also maintained that Mr. Faith did not perform any function or duty after his contract expired.

In a well-considered judgment, the presiding Judge, Justice Sinmisola Adeniyi re-stressed that the contract of service is the bedrock upon which an aggrieved employee must found his case and the Court will not look outside the terms stipulated or agreed therein in deciding the rights and obligations of the parties.

Relying on the exhibits and submission before the court, Justice Adeniyi held that the contract between Mr. Faith and Niger Delta Power Holding Ltd was a fixed-term contract of one year, and it is decipherable from the tenor of agreement, that the contract could not have been validly renewed, by either party after its expiration, from 1st July 2019.

The Court reasoned that the issue of renewal by any means; whether orally, impliedly or by conduct as argued by Mr. Faith was never proscribed nor provided for in the employment contract, and the law does not give the Court the license to factor into a written contract the terms that are absent from it.

“Throughout the gamut of evidence, the Claimant did not prove his assertions that he was engaged by the Defendant after his contract terminated on 30/06/2019 or that any allegation was levelled against him or that he was placed on suspension or that the emails that he purportedly sent to the principal officers of the Defendant on communication of the investigation were received or that he was prevented or frustrated from engaging in another job after the expiration of his contract.” The Court ruled.