CBN contests order to pay ex-Gov Nyame N151m pension arrears

The Central Bank Nigeria (CBN) has filed a motion on notice to challenge the court’s order to pay the former governor of Taraba State, Jolly Nyame, and three others pension arrears in the National Industrial Court, Abuja.

The other judgement creditors in the suit are Uba Ahmadu, Abubakar Armayau, and Bilkisu Danboyi.

When the matter was called before Justice Osatohanmwen Obaseki-Osaghae, counsel to CBN, Johannah Titus informed the court that she had two applications for stay of execution before the court.

She then proceeded to seek leave of the court to withdraw an earlier motion dated and filed on May 27 in order to replace it with another filed on Monday.

Edward Erhinure, counsel to Nyame and others, however, objected to the application, saying he had already filed a counter-affidavit to the May 27 application.

Erhinure also asked for N1 million costs, claiming that he had spent money to file processes in response to the application Titus was seeking to withdraw.

Confidence Samuel, counsel to the judgement debtor, the Taraba State Government, informed the court that he was not opposing Titus’ application.

The presiding judge, therefore, ruled that the CBN’s application dated May 27 was duly struck out

She further directed Titus to move the motion to replace same with the one filed on Monday.

Obaseki-Osaghae also awarded the sum of N100, 000 as cost against CBN to be paid before the next adjourned date.

She further adjourned the matter until October 17 for hearing of Monday’s application.

In addition to the application of stay of execution by CBN, it also filed a notice of appeal contesting the garnishee order delivered by the same court on May 24.

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A garnishee order is a judicial proceeding of execution or enforcement of monetary judgement whereby money belonging to a judgement debtor, in the hands or possession of a third party known as the ‘Garnishee’ (usually a bank), is attached or seized by a judgement creditor, the ‘Garnisher’, in satisfaction of a judgement sum or debt.

The court, in its ruling, made an order absolute in the garnishee proceeding ordering the CBN to pay the judgement creditors.

The judgement creditors had filed the suit against the judgement debtor, the Taraba State Government and CBN, the garnishee debtor, through a garnishee proceeding.

The judgement debtor in response filed an application filed on January 24, seeking for the order of the court to set aside the order nisi, granted in favour of the judgement creditors on December 2, 2021.

An Order Nisi means an order that will ripen or take effect at some set date in the future, unless the order is rescinded by a court before that date.

CBN on its part had objected to the garnishee proceeding by stating that the court did not have jurisdiction to entertain the proceeding.

The garnishee proceeding emanated from a judgement delivered by the same court on July 12, 2019.

In the judgement, the court had ordered the payment of the sum of N151.1 million, being the unpaid pension arrears of the judgement creditors.

The judgement, which was delivered by Justice Sanusi Kado, was for unpaid pension from May, 2013 to October 2015.

The court, in the said judgement, had ordered 10 equal instalment payments, commencing from July 2019, on a monthly basis until the final liquidation of the total sum.

The judgement creditors were paid the sum of N16.3 million as first instalment, but were never paid again until the expiration of the instalments plan in November 2021.

The judgement creditors, who were former employees of the judgement debtor upon retirement, were paid the sum of N45 million out of their total pension arrears of N196 million.

The Star