Alleged Right Violation: Supreme Court Voids Garnishee Order against CBN

Alex Enumah in Abuja

The Supreme Court has voided a garnishee order issued against the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), over a judgement debt involving the Nigeria Police Force.

The apex court in the unanimous decision subsequently set aside the concurrent judgements of the Federal High Court and the Court of Appeal, which affirmed a N50 million damages against the police, for the violation of the rights of one Inalegwu Frankline Ochife.

The judgement has however brought to an end a seven years legal battle which started in 2018.

Recall that the Federal High Court had on October 10, 2018, awarded Ochife N50 million in damages against the Inspector General of Police, the Commissioner of Police (FCT), and the Officer in Charge of the Intelligence Response Team, Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS).

As part of efforts at enforcing the judgement, Ochife, initiated garnishee proceedings to attach funds from the judgement debtors’ accounts under the Treasury Single Account (TSA) held by the CBN.

On December 10, 2018, the Federal High Court issued a Garnishee Order Nisi directing the CBN to deduct N50 million from the alleged accounts of the judgement debtors.

The CBN, however, filed an affidavit to show cause, asserting that it did not hold any accounts in the names of the judgement debtors and was therefore unable to comply with the order.

Despite this, the Federal High Court made the Garnishee Order Absolute on January 21, 2019, prompting the CBN to appeal the decision.

The Court of Appeal, in its ruling on December 4, 2020, dismissed the CBN’s appeal, reasoning that since the judgement debtors were government agencies, their funds must be held under the TSA policy.

Relying on Section 124 of the Evidence Act, the appellate court took judicial notice of the TSA framework and upheld the garnishee proceedings.

Dissatisfied, the CBN took the matter to the Supreme Court, arguing that the proceedings were invalid due to the judgement creditors’ failure to obtain the consent of the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), as required by Section 84 of the Sheriffs and Civil Process Act (SCPA).

Delivering the lead judgement in the appeal marked: SC/CV/268/2021, Justice Habeeb Adewale Abiru held that the lower courts had erred in their assessment of the case.

According to the apex court, the Inspector General of Police, the Commissioner of Police (FCT), and the Officer in Charge of SARS are not Ministries, Departments, or Agencies (MDAs) of the federal government and, therefore, do not fall under the TSA framework.

Justice Abiru criticized the lower court’s decision as “perverse,” stating that it relied on irrelevant considerations and failed to assess the evidence properly.

The Supreme Court held that the first respondent failed to provide specific details of the accounts allegedly maintained by the judgement debtors at the CBN.

It subsequently set aside the Court of Appeal’s judgement, dismissed the garnishee proceedings, and discharged the CBN from any liability in the matter.

Each party was ordered to bear its own costs.

While the majority judgement refrained from making a direct ruling on the applicability of Section 84, it did not render the provision obsolete.