The Court of Appeal in Abuja has overturned a Federal High Court ruling that sought to attach a N100.1 million judgment debt to the Central Bank of Nigeria in a long-running dispute involving the Imo State Government.
In a unanimous decision delivered on Wednesday by Justice Okon Abang, the appellate court held that the trial judge acted on speculation rather than credible evidence when making a garnishee order absolute against the apex bank.
The court reaffirmed that the CBN neither maintained an account for the Imo State Government nor owed the state any attachable debt capable of supporting garnishee proceedings.
The appeal stemmed from a May 19, 2016, judgment of the Federal High Court, Abuja. Andrew Okoroji, through his counsel K.C. Nwufor, SAN, had obtained a N100,178,210 judgment against the Imo State Government in 2012 and later initiated garnishee proceedings to enforce it. The lower court treated the state’s anticipated monthly allocation from the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC), held with the CBN, as attachable funds.
The CBN’s legal team successfully challenged that finding. Justice Abang ruled that Okoroji’s counter-affidavit contained only documentary hearsay. The deponent neither claimed membership of FAAC nor disclosed the source of the information relied upon. The appellate court found the evidence fundamentally deficient and held that the trial court moved with undue haste by making the order absolute without first resolving factual disputes through proper trial.
“The first respondent did not prove by verifiable evidence that the CBN was indebted to the Imo State Government to warrant the order nisi being made in the first place to attach a non-existent debt in the hands of the CBN,” Justice Abang stated.
The court emphasised that only an existing, ascertainable and legally enforceable debt can be attached in garnishee proceedings. Anticipated FAAC allocations do not meet that threshold, as they are not fixed, specific or determinable sums payable by the CBN until the Allocation Committee completes its work.
The Court of Appeal allowed the appeal, set aside the garnishee order absolute, and awarded N1 million in costs against the judgment creditor.
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