Photo: Gov Dave Umahi of Ebonyi
A Federal High Court, in Port Harcourt ,has ordered the freezing of the accounts of the Ebonyi State Government domiciled in the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the United Bank for Africa, and its monthly allocations.
The trial Judge, Justice Stephen Pam, while delivering a garnishee order in a judgment debt suit filed against the state government, ordered the freezing of $29,854,856.9, N30,100,000,000, and another N15 million in CBN and UBA.
The judge granted the judgment creditors their requests for the attachment or freezing of the listed accounts with the two banks and also ordered the banks to file required documents as proof that the banks have sufficient fund to offset the debts against Ebonyi State.
The court granted the five orders sought by the two companies freezing the monies in the Ebonyi account and transferring them to the account of the two companies domiciled with Wema Bank’s account number 0122765584 from that of the state government’s UBA account number 1001158077 as a means of liquidating the existing judgment sum owed the applicants by the state.
The court also granted the CBN and UBA 14 days window to file any papers before it, if there is any cause, on why the order would not be executed immediately since they were not in court during the hearing of the application filed by the two companies.
The suit is marked No. FHC/PH/CS/35/2022 and the application for the order was filed via a motion ex parte.
The judgment creditors (plaintiffs) Andrew Bishopton Ltd and Mauritz Walton Nigeria Ltd had filed the Garnishee process before the court against the Ebonyi State Government, which is the judgment debtor.
Joined in the suit are the Ebonyi state Attorney General, the CBN as the first Garnishee party and the UBA as the second Garnishee party.
A certified true copy of the Garnishee Order Nissi obtained by Periscope International and signed by the Registrar, O.P. Clovis Okereke on July 21, 2022, validates the authenticity of the process.
A Garnishee Order entails the enforcement of an existing judgment of a court in favour of the judgment creditor, to recover its money from the bank in which the judgment creditor’s money is domiciled.
In the instant case, the Ebonyi State government is the custodian of the monies ordered frozen or attached by the court, which include the $29,854,856.9 domiciled with the CBN, another N30,100,000,000 and yet another N15 million in UBA through which the government receives its monthly allocations.
