The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Godwin Emefiele, was ordered by a Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday to appear before the court on January 18, 2023, and give an explanation for his reluctance to abide by a legitimate judgement for the payment of a $70 million debt.
After learning that Emefiele has disobeyed the court’s order to settle the judgement debt, Justice Inyang Edem Ekwo issued the new order.
Following the CBN governor’s continued unwillingness to comply with the court’s direction over the judgement debt, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Mr. Joe Odey Agi, had obtained judgement summons against him.
However, Emefiele requested that the summons be set aside through the assistance of his attorney, Mr. Damian Dodo SAN, rather than complying with the court order that was delivered to him through a newspaper article.
His justification was that a court order for the judgement summons had been the subject of an appeal that had been filed.
However, Emefiele’s request was opposed by the applicant’s attorney, Mr. Joseph Njikonye SAN, on the grounds that the payment order had not yet been carried out.
According to Njikonye, the CBN governor must absolve himself of all disrespect before the court will let him to speak.
Justice Ekwo ruled in a concise decision that Emefiele must either comply with the court’s current order regarding the payment of the judgement debt or honour the summons issued to him by the court asking him to explain why he disobeyed the order.
The judge then set the CBN governor’s physical and personal appearance before the court as required by law for January 18 of the following year.
The CBN was required by the Federal High Court to pay the senior attorney $70 million in legal costs for services provided to some states and the 774 LGAs in the nation through Garnishee Nisi absolute.
Emefiele was accused of stalling the payment of the judgement debt even though the Attorney General of the Federation, AGF, and Minister of Justice were claimed to have given their approval.
