LABOUR LAW — Master and Servant — Statutory Flavour — Distinction from Ordinary Employment
Principle Statement
Where an office or employment has a statutory flavour—meaning its conditions of service are provided for and protected by statute or regulations thereunder—the holder enjoys a special status beyond the ordinary master and servant relationship. In disciplining such a person, the procedure laid down by the applicable statute or regulations must be fully complied with, and material contravention renders any decision affecting tenure null and void.
Ratio Decidendi (Source)
Per Oguntade, JSC (quoting Obadina, JCA), in Osisanya v. Afribank Nigeria Plc (2007) NLC-123-135-2001(SC) at p. 10; Paras C–E.
"When an office or employment has a statutory flavour in the sense that its conditions of service are provided for and protected by statute or regulations thereunder, any person holding that office or in that employment enjoys a special status over and above the ordinary master and servant relationship. In the matter of disciplining such a person, the procedure laid down by the applicable statute or regulations must be fully complied with. If materially contravened, any decision affecting the right or tenure of office of that person may be declared null and void."
Explanation / Scope
Employment with statutory flavour (e.g., public service, statutory corporations) is elevated above ordinary master-servant contracts because the employee’s tenure is protected by law, not merely by contract. The employer must follow prescribed disciplinary procedures strictly. Failure to do so is not merely a breach of contract but an illegality that vitiates the dismissal, giving the employee the remedy of a declaration of nullity—a remedy unavailable in ordinary employment.
