Appeal Court Orders CBN To Release N2.5bn To 110 ABU Workers Sacked In 1996

The Court of Appeal in Abuja on Friday dismissed separate appeals filed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) seeking to halt the payment of a N2.5bn judgment debt to 110 university workers unlawfully dismissed in 1996.

In two unanimous judgments delivered by a three-member panel, the appellate court directed the apex bank to immediately release the funds, which ABU had deposited with the CBN since 2018 for onward payment to the affected workers.

Delivering the lead judgment, Justice Okon Abang warned that the court could impose heavy sanctions on the CBN if it continued to delay compliance with the order.

The court rejected the bank’s argument that the workers could not initiate garnishee proceedings against it to recover the judgment sum. It also dismissed the CBN’s contention that the consent of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice must be obtained before the funds could be paid.

Both the CBN and ABU had challenged the enforcement of an earlier decision of the National Industrial Court, which held that the workers were unlawfully laid off by the university’s Sole Administrator, General Mamman Kontagora, and ordered the payment of their entitlements.

The appellants further opposed the garnishee proceedings initiated by the workers to enforce the judgment. However, the Court of Appeal found the appeals to be unmeritorious and dismissed them.

Justice Rakiya Haastrup of the National Industrial Court had, on January 27, 2022, issued a garnishee order absolute directing the CBN to pay the judgment debt from ABU’s funds in its custody.

Affirming that decision, Justice Abang held that the workers acted within the law by commencing garnishee proceedings to enforce payment of their entitlements.

The appellate court also criticised the CBN for expending public funds on litigation aimed at frustrating the execution of the judgment, describing the bank’s conduct as reckless given that the university had already provided the money for settlement.

“In this matter, it is not the duty of the CBN to play the role of the advocate but to implement the court judgment that awarded the money to the workers in the absence of any contrary court order,” the judge held.

He further faulted the bank’s legal representation, stating that the lawyer ought to have advised the CBN against resisting the judgment, noting that the prolonged litigation had worsened the hardship faced by the workers.

“There is no lawful reason for the CBN to have filed this appeal against the judgment of the Industrial Court since the workers made no claims against the bank,” he said.

Justice Abang emphasised that legal practitioners owe a duty to the court, the country, and the affected workers to ensure they are not denied the benefits of a valid court victory.

The court questioned the bank’s position on how the CBN could seek to vacate an order not made against it while holding the workers’ funds since 2018, stressing that the situation must come to an end and that the workers deserved the fruits of their labour.

In addition to the N2.5bn judgment debt, the Court of Appeal awarded N5m in costs against the CBN and another N5m against ABU in favour of the workers.

Appeal Court Orders CBN To Release N2.5bn To 110 ABU Workers Sacked In 1996 is first published on The Whistler Newspaper