The National Industrial Court in Abuja has ordered United Bank for Africa Plc to pay a total of N1.07bn to former Kogi State Deputy Governor, Simon Achuba, to satisfy a judgment debt owed by the Kogi State Government.

Justice R. B. Haastrup delivered the judgment on November 27, making absolute an earlier garnishee order nisi after finding that UBA had failed to substantiate its claim that the funds in the relevant Kogi State Government account were either World Bank–supported monies or jointly owned by 19 northern states.

Achuba, represented by human rights lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN), had urged the court to make the earlier order absolute, noting UBA’s admission that it held sufficient funds in the Kogi State ACRESAL IDA Designated Account, a dollar account domiciled with the bank.

UBA had argued that the money was sourced from the World Bank for environmental projects across northern states and was therefore unavailable to settle the judgment debt.

Justice Haastrup, however, dismissed this argument, ruling that the bank supplied no credible documentary evidence to support its claims.

The court stated that once a garnishee admits the existence of funds sufficient to satisfy a judgment and fails to prove that such funds are legally restricted, “the law does not permit depriving a successful litigant of the fruits of his judgment.”

The court specifically ordered N1,070,860,138 — the outstanding judgment sum — to be paid to Achuba, along with N2m as costs awarded by the Court of Appeal and N1m as costs of the garnishee proceedings.

The total sum is to be paid directly into Achuba’s Access Bank account.

Justice Haastrup also discharged other banks previously joined as garnishees, including Zenith Bank, First Bank, GTBank, Access Bank, and Polaris Bank.

In his ruling, the judge stated: “An order absolute is made directing the 3rd garnishee (UBA Plc) to pay the sum of N1,070,860,138 only to the judgment creditor. The 3rd garnishee shall pay to the judgment creditor the sum of N2,000,000.00 only as costs awarded by the Court of Appeal. The 3rd garnishee shall pay to the judgment creditor the sum of N1,000,000.00 only being cost of this garnishee proceedings.”

The ruling represents a significant milestone in Achuba’s prolonged legal dispute with the Kogi State Government over his controversial removal from office in 2019.

The court also criticised the conduct of the Kogi State government’s counsel, Paul Daudu (SAN), describing his application as malafide and aimed at undermining the express orders of the Court of Appeal and constitutional provisions.

Justice Haastrup stated, “I have observed that the same was brought malafide, as it seeks to set this court in collusion with the express orders of the Court of Appeal and section 243(3) of the Constitution. This conduct is most unprofessional and does not portray the bar in good light.”

Consequently, the court awarded N1m personally against Daudu in favour of the judgment creditor.(PUNCH)

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