Supreme court overturns N50m garnishee order against CBN

The Supreme Court of Nigeria has set aside a garnishee order against the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), ruling in favour of the apex bank in a protracted legal battle over a N50 million judgment debt.

In a decision delivered on 24 January 2025, Justice Habeeb Adewale Olurmuyiwa Abiru, in suit number SC/CV/268/2021, found that the lower courts had erred in their handling of the case.

The dispute dates back to 10 October 2018, when the Federal High Court in Abuja awarded N50 million in damages to Inalegwu Frankline Ochife 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). Seeking to enforce the ruling, Ochife initiated garnishee proceedings to recover the funds from accounts linked to the judgment debtors under the Treasury Single Account (TSA) held by the CBN.

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

The CBN, however, challenged the directive, arguing that it did not hold any accounts in the names of the judgment debtors and could not comply with the order. Despite this, the Federal High Court issued a Garnishee Order Absolute on 21 January 2019, prompting the CBN to appeal.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the CBN’s challenge on 4 December 2020, reasoning that the judgment debtors, as government agencies, had their funds under the TSA policy.

The appellate court relied on Section 124 of the Evidence Act, which allows courts to take judicial notice of public financial frameworks, in upholding the garnishee proceedings.

Unconvinced, the CBN took the case to the Supreme Court, arguing that the garnishee proceedings were invalid as the judgment creditor had failed to obtain the consent of the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), a requirement under Section 84 of the Sheriffs and Civil Process Act (SCPA).

The Supreme Court ruled in favour of the CBN, stating that the Inspector General of Police, the Commissioner of Police (FCT), and the Officer in Charge of SARS were not Ministries, Departments, or Agencies (MDAs) of the Federal Government and, therefore, their funds were not subject to the TSA framework.

Delivering the lead judgment, Justice Abiru criticised the lower courts for making a “perverse” decision, stating that they had relied on irrelevant considerations and failed to properly assess the evidence.

The Supreme Court found that the first respondent had not provided specific details of any accounts maintained by the judgment debtors at the CBN.

Consequently, the Supreme Court overturned the Court of Appeal’s ruling, dismissed the garnishee proceedings, and discharged the CBN from any liability. Each party was ordered to bear its own costs.