A High Court in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, has issued an order attaching funds held by the Oyo State Government and its agencies in four banks. Justice A. O. Ebong granted the order while ruling on an ex‑parte motion for a garnishee order filed by former chairpersons and councillors led by Bashorun Majeed, Bosun Ajuwon and Idris Okusesi. The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the banks affected are First Bank, United Bank for Africa, Wema Bank and Zenith Bank. Justice Ebong directed the banks to show cause why the order should not be made absolute. The ruling, filed as FCT/HC/BW/M/238/2023, was delivered on 2 March, and a certified true copy was sighted on Sunday in Abuja.
According to court filings, the attached funds are intended to settle an outstanding judgment debt of ₦3,374,889,425.60 owed to the former local‑government chairpersons and councillors who were removed on 29 May 2019, before the end of their tenure, by Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State. The garnishee proceeding was initiated by their lawyer, Musibau Adetunbi, to enforce a Supreme Court judgment obtained on 7 May 2021 against the governor and six others. The order reads: “A garnishee order nisi is hereby granted to attach the judgment debtors’ accounts with garnishees Nos. 1 to 4 in the motion ex‑parte, for the purpose of settling the judgment debt outstanding in the sum of ₦3,374,889,425.60 as awarded by the Supreme Court and conceded by the judgment debtors in Exhibit 11 attached to the applicant’s motion. The garnishees (1st to 4th) shall file affidavits and attend court on the next adjourned date to show cause why the order nisi should not be made absolute. A copy of this order nisi shall be served on the judgment debtors as required by law. This matter is hereby adjourned to 4 April 2023 for continuation.” The judgment creditors have since served copies of the order on the judgment debtors, as required.
The judgment debtors include the Oyo State Governor, the state’s Attorney General, the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, the Accountant General, the House of Assembly and its Speaker, and the Oyo State Independent Electoral Commission. The former chairpersons and councillors were elected in the OYSIEC‑conducted election on 12 March 2018 for a three‑year term. Anticipating their removal, they sued the High Court of Oyo State to challenge the constitutionality of Sections 11 and 12 of the Oyo State Local Government Law 2001, which empowered the governor and the House of Assembly to dissolve local‑government executives. On 6 May 2019, the Oyo State High Court declared those sections unconstitutional, citing a violation of Section 7(1) of the Constitution. Despite the judgment, Governor Makinde dismissed the officials on 29 May 2019 and appealed the decision.
The Court of Appeal set aside the High Court judgment on 15 July 2020, a decision the officials again appealed to the Supreme Court. On 7 May 2021, a five‑member Supreme Court panel headed by Justice Kudirat Kekere‑Ekun allowed the appeal (SC/CV/556/2020) and overturned the Court of Appeal’s ruling. The Supreme Court awarded ₦20 million in costs against Governor Makinde and ordered that the former chairpersons and councillors be paid salaries and allowances from 29 May 2019 to 11 May 2021, when their tenure should have ended. In the lead judgment, Justice Ejembi Eko harshly criticised Governor Makinde for “imperial directives” that dissolved democratically elected local‑government councils despite the standing High Court judgment, describing his actions as “executive lawlessness” and a threat to democracy and the rule of law. Justice Eko warned that such undemocratic tendencies by elected governors undermine local governance and endanger democratic institutions.
Comments are closed for this story.