Court orders CBN to pay N149million within 14 days to judgment creditor – Nairametrics

The Abuja National Labor Court ordered the Central Bank of Nigeria to pay Mr. Stacy Johnson the sum of 149 million naira within 14 days to settle a judgment debt owed by the Inspector General of Police and the Ministry of Justice.

Presiding Judge Judge Olufunke Anuwe issued the order yesterday after listening to arguments and submissions from both lawyers in the trial, according to Nigeria’s National Labor Court.

In the garnishment proceedings, while Mr Johnson is the judgment creditor, the IGP and the Department of Justice are the judgment debtors and the CBN is the garnishee.

“As a result, the Nisi Garnishment Order is made Absolute. The garnishee is ordered to pay the judgment debt in the amount of N149, 205, 199.45 to this court for the benefit of the judgment creditor. This order must be executed by the seized third party within 14 days from today.Ruled Judge Anuwe.

Pass

On November 3, 2020, Mr Johnson obtained a judgment against the Inspector General of Police and the Department of Justice.

However, they (the judgment debtors) did not pay the judgment sum to Mr Johnson, the judgment creditor, and he took the national labor court to court and initiated garnishment proceedings to enforce the judgment. payment of the judgment debt.

On March 25, 2021, the court issued an order to Nisi ordering CBN to come and explain why the money in his account should not be used to settle the judgment debt owed to Mr Johnson.

CBN, in accordance with the court order, presented to the court the state of accounts of the Nigerian police force and that of the Ministry of Justice.

CBN’s attorney, AO Ajana (SAN) argued that CBN’s account is a consolidated account that contains the revenues and revenues of the legislature, executive and judiciary and other government agencies and departments.

He asserted that due to the nature of the CBN account which is a single treasury account, it is not possible to know the balances owed to individuals.

Mr Godswill Esq., Counsel for the judgment creditor, opposing Mr Ajana’s argument, told the court that the IGP had an account domiciled with CBN and his bank statement showed that the money in the account was sufficient to settle the judgment debt.

He therefore requested the court to grant the remedies requested by Mr Johnson and ordered the garnishee to pay the sum of the judgment to the judgment creditor.

In her decision, Judge Anuwe held that it is irrelevant that the money of the judgment debtors in the single treasury account is not verifiable as claimed by the garnishee.

She said that, given that the judgment debtors partly own the money in the Treasury Single Account, the money can be seized for the settlement of the legal debt owed by the Inspector General of Police and the Ministry of Justice.

Judge Anuwe issued the Nisi Absolute Order ordering the CBN to pay the sum of one hundred and forty nine million two hundred and five thousand into the court’s account for the benefit of the judgment creditor within 14 days.

What you should know

• A garnishment procedure is a judicial process for the execution or enforcement of a pecuniary judgment.
• Nisi Order is an order that orders a garnishee (mainly banks) to appear in court on a specific date and show why an order should not be made on him for payment of a judicial debt from the account of a judgment debtor to a judgment creditor.
• The absolute order is an order directing the garnishee to pay the judgment debt of the judgment debtors from the money in their possession.
• A garnishee is a third party in a lawsuit whereby the judgment debtor has funds or assets to his credit in his possession.
• A judgment creditor is the party to an action who is entitled to the sum of the judgment.
• A judgment debtor is the party to an action that is owed to the judgment creditor.

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