The Central Bank Nigeria (CBN) has challenged an order by the National Industrial Court, Abuja asking it to pay pension arrears to Jolly Nyame, the former Taraba governor and three others.
In a motion filed by the apex bank, it is seeking an order for stay of execution before the court and had also filed a notice of appeal contesting the garnishee order delivered by the same court on May 24.
On May 24, the court had ordered CBN to pay the judgement creditors the sum owed following a suit filed by them against the Taraba state government through a garnishee proceeding.
On July 12, 2019, Justice Sanusi Kado, had ordered CBN to pay the sum of N151.1 million, being unpaid pension of the former Governor and others from May 2013 to Oct. 2015.
Back story
- On July 12, 2019, the National industrial court delivered a judgment which ordered the state government to pay the sum of N151 million to the former governor and three others.
- The three others are Uba Ahmadu, Abubakar Armayau and Bilkisu Danboyi
- The money is unpaid pension arrears from May 2013 to October 2015.
- In its judgement, the court ordered the state government to pay the money in 10 instalments payment which was to commence from July 2019 and is to be paid monthly u till the final liquidation of the total sum.
- The state government at first paid N16.3 million on the first instalment and afterwards, nothing was paid until the duration of the instalment which was ordered by the bank ended in November 2021.
- They had earlier received the sum of N45 million out of their total pension arrears of N196 million when they retired.
- The Aggrieved workers had approached the National industrial court again and instituted a garnishee proceeding seeking to enforce the payment of the judgement debt.
What happened in court
- The former governor, Uba Ahmadu, Abubakar Armayau and Bilkisu Danboyi are the judgment creditors in the suit.
- At the resumed trial, Johannah Titus counsel to CBN told the court that she had two applications for a stay of execution before the court.
- She also sought the leave of the court to withdraw an earlier motion she filed on May 27 to replace it with a fresh one.
- In response, the counsel to the judgement creditors Edward Erhinure objected to the application on the grounds that they had already filed a counter-affidavit to the earlier application.
- He, therefore, sought the sum of N1 million as cost saying he had spent money filling processes in response to the application seeking to be withdrawn.
- Counsel to Taraba state government, Confidence Samuel however told the court that he was not objecting to the withdrawal of the May 27 application.
- Consequently, the judge struck out CBN’s application dated May 27 and asked CBN to move a motion to replace same with the fresh application filed today.
- She ordered CBN to pay the sum of N100, 000 as the cost to the judgement creditors counsel before the next adjourned date.
- She then adjourned the matter until October for hearing of Monday’s application.
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