BREAKING: Court orders CBN to present Nigeria Police Force statement of account within 21 days

Hon. Justice Olufunke Anuwe of the Abuja Judicial division of the National Industrial Court has ordered Central Bank of Nigeria to present to the court the statement of the accounts of the Nigeria Police Force and the Federal Ministry of Justice in its custody showing the balances of the accounts within 21 days.

Justice Anuwe made the order sequel to the application filed by one judgment creditor- Mr. Stacy Johnson who approached the court to enforce payment of the judgment sum awarded to him in the summary judgment delivered on 3rd November 2020 and the court made an order Nisi on 25th March 2021, ordered the garnishee-CBN to show cause why an order Absolute should not be made.

Senior Counsel for the Garnishee, Chief A. O. Ajana SAN averred that none of the Judgment Debtors maintain an account with the CBN, submitted that Treasury Single Account (TSA) is a single account for Government, Agencies, and Departments and not for individuals like the Judgment Debtors.

Counsel to the Inspector General of Police, B. N. Ezeala Esq also sought for an order of the court to set aside the garnishee order on the grounds the contract which existed between the IGP and Mr. Stacy is not within the jurisdiction of the court and his client was not given a fair hearing before the summary judgment was delivered.

Delivering the ruling, the presiding judge, Justice Olufunke Anuwe held the objection to the jurisdiction of the court to entertain the suit on the ground that the subject matter of the suit, being a simple contract for the training of police dogs, does not fall within the jurisdiction of the court was misconceived that the objection had earlier been raised in the suit by the Attorney General of the Federation- 2nd Defendant/Judgment Debtor in a Notice of Preliminary Objection filed on 11th December 2019 which was dismissed for lacking merit.

“Before I heard the motion for summary judgment, I scrutinized the record to be sure that the 1st Defendant/Judgment Debtor is aware of the suit. The record shows that the 1st Defendant/Judgment Debtor is aware of the suit and received notices of the days the case came up in court. The 1st Defendant/Judgement Debtor was given the opportunity to be heard but he chose not to utilise the opportunity.” Justice Anuwe ruled.