Appeal Court blocks bid to seize CBN over ₦100m Imo judgment

The Court of Appeal overturned a Federal High Court decision that attached a ₦100 million judgment debt against the CBN in a dispute involving the Imo State Government.

The Court of Appeal, Abuja, on Wednesday overturned the Federal High Court’s decision which attached a purported ₦100.1 million judgment debt against the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in a dispute involving the Imo State Government. Justice Okon Abang, who read the unanimous judgment, held that the trial court “acted on speculation” rather than credible and verifiable evidence in making a garnishee order absolute against the CBN.

The Court reaffirmed that the apex bank neither maintained an account for the Imo State Government nor owed the state any attachable debt capable of sustaining garnishee proceedings. The appeal arose from the judgment of the Federal High Court delivered on May 19, 2016, in garnishee proceedings instituted to enforce a judgment earlier obtained against the Imo State Government. The trial court had held that the state’s anticipated allocation from the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC), domiciled with the CBN, constituted attachable funds.

Justice Abang found the evidence to be fundamentally deficient, holding that the respondent neither claimed membership of FAAC nor disclosed the source of the FAAC information contained in his affidavit. The Court held that the trial judge acted with undue haste by making the garnishee order absolute without first resolving the factual disputes through trial. Justice Abang stressed that garnishee proceedings must rest on credible, cogent, and verifiable evidence, not assumptions or conjecture.

The ruling is a victory for the CBN and a reminder that garnishee proceedings must be based on evidence, not speculation. The Court’s decision protects the CBN from being used as a conduit for enforcing judgments against state governments.

This echoes the 2019 garnishee proceedings against the CBN, which also failed when the Court of Appeal ruled that the apex bank could not be compelled to pay debts it did not owe. The mechanism then was different, but the result was the same: the courts protecting the CBN from speculative claims.

The winners: the CBN, which has been protected from an unjustified seizure; and the rule of law, which has been upheld. The losers: the judgment creditor, who must find another way to enforce the judgment; and the Imo State Government, which remains liable for the debt.

Bottom Line: The Court of Appeal has blocked a bid to seize CBN funds over a ₦100 million judgment. The ruling is a victory for the apex bank and a reminder that garnishee proceedings must be based on evidence, not speculation.