A road construction firm, Trans Engineering Nigeria Limited, informed the Federal High Court, Abuja on Thursday that after its orders, the Kogi state government has paid the N172,619,898.44 debt it owes them.
The firm’s counsel, Barrister Kennedy Enemmo told Justice Peter Lifu during proceedings in suit no: FHC/ABJ/CS/1148/2022, that the Kogi state government reached out to his client and have fully settled the accrued debt based on which the order was made on August 4, 2022.
The firm sued the Kogi state Governor, the Attorney General of Kogi state, Ministry of Works and Housing, Kogi state (judgement debtors/respondents), Central Bank of Nigeria and four commercial banks over unfinished business with the state government.
But the company eventually asked the court to vacate its orders against the government, having been fully settled.
The order which Enemmo asked the judge to vacate, reads,
- “It is hereby ordered as follows: A garnishee order nisi is made attaching the sum of N172,619,898.44 or any money accruing to the Kogi state government as monthly allocation from the Federation Account held by the first garnishee (CBN) for the relevant month the order nisi is granted or any amount standing to the credit of the judgement debtors at the 2nd to 5th garnishee banks, for the satisfaction of the judgement of the Court of Appeal, Abuja Division, delivered on the 25th day of March, 2015, in Appeal No: CA/A/ABJ/204,2014, between governor of Kogi state & 2 others versus Transengineering Nig Ltd.”
What transpired in court
Enemmo said he has the consent and authority of his client to seek the vacation of the order.
He said,
- “In view of this fact, there is no ground for continued freezing of the bank accounts of the judgement debtors in the garnishee (a third party who is instructed by way of legal notice to surrender money to settle a debt or claim) banks, which were attached as a result of the order of this honorable court.”
The legal team of the commercial banks did not raise an objection. Justice Lifu subsequently “vacated the orders.”
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Backstory
As seen in court documents by Nairametrics, the firm was contracted by the Kogi state government for construction works in 2013, running into several millions of naira.
But the company was not paid based on the terms of agreement, so they approached the high Court and Court of Appeal for determination of the dispute.
The appeal court in Abuja delivered its judgement on 25th March, 2015, ordering the state government to pay the sum of N322,619,898 to the firm.
But while the appeal went up to the Supreme Court, both parties decided to discuss and resolve the issue out of court with the government agreeing to pay the money.
Between 2018 to 2019, the government paid N150,000,000.
After a long while, the firm took the government to the Federal High Court, demanding payment of the remaining balance.
