The national industrial court sitting in Abuja has ordered United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc to pay a total of ₦1.07 billion to former Kogi State deputy governor, Simon Achuba, to satisfy a long standing judgment debt owed by the Kogi state government.
Justice R. B. Haastrup delivered the ruling on November 27, making the earlier garnishee order nisi a temporary court order freezing the debtor’s funds absolute, after holding that UBA failed to prove that the funds in question were either World Bank supported or jointly owned.
Achuba, represented by human rights lawyer Femi Falana, urged the court to confirm the order, noting that UBA had admitted to holding sufficient funds in the Kogi state ACRESAL IDA designated account, a dollar denominated account domiciled with the bank.
UBA argued that the funds originated from the World Bank for environmental projects and were therefore not available to offset the judgment debt.
However, the court dismissed the argument, noting that the bank failed to provide credible documentary evidence to support its claims.
Haastrup ruled that when a bank admits holding sufficient funds to satisfy a judgment but cannot prove that such funds are legally restricted, the law does not permit depriving a successful litigant of the fruits of their judgment.
The court ordered the payment of N1,070,860,138, representing the outstanding judgment sum, in addition to N2 million awarded by the court of appeal and N1 million as the cost of the garnishee proceedings.
The amounts are to be paid directly into Achuba’s Access Bank account.
Haastrup further criticised the conduct of Kogi state’s counsel, Paul Daudu, describing his application as mala fide (in bad faith) and intended to undermine the orders of the court of appeal.
The court awarded N1 million in personal costs against Daudu in favour of the judgment creditor.
The ruling marks a significant development in Achuba’s longstanding legal battle with the Kogi state government following his controversial removal from office in 2019.
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