Facts:

The claimant is a trade union in Nigeria which protects the interests of senior to middle staff employees of organizations within the oil and gas sector. The 4th defendant had 60% stake in the 1st defendant (then known as Chevron Oil Nigeria Plc) which it sold to the 3rd defendant. However, before the sale was completed employees of the 1st Defendant went on strike to stop the transaction. In order to appease the employees and end the strike, 3rd & 4th Defendants agreed to a one off payout to the employees. This culminated to the execution of Separation Package Agreement, new Collective Agreement as well as a 12.5% increment of the employees’ basic salary.
The 1st defendant, claimant and NUPENG were parties to the agreement executed. Dispute arose when the employees realized that the 12.5% increment was not applied in the calculation of their separation pay out. The claimant on behalf of its members insisted on the full payment of their entitlements from the defendants but they all denied liability to the sum claimed.
Aggrieved by the action of the defendants, the claimant filed this action seeking inter alia, the court’s interpretation of the agreements executed by the disputing parties. The defendants also filed their defence.