Supreme Court Quashes Garnishee Order Against CBN, Says Police, SARS Not MDAs

The Supreme Court has set aside a garnishee order issued against the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), dismissing proceedings initiated by Inalegwu Frankline Ochife in a legal battle that spanned several years.

In its judgement on the appeal with suit number SC/CV/268/2021, Justice Habeeb Abiru, held that the lower courts erred in their assessment of the case.

The dispute originated from an October 10, 2018 judgement of the Federal High Court in Abuja, which awarded Ochife N50 million in damages 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 judgement, Ochife initiated garnishee proceedings to attach funds from the judgement debtors’ accounts under the Treasury Single Account (TSA) held by the CBN.

On December 10, 2018, the Federal High Court issued a Garnishee Order Nisi directing the CBN to deduct N50 million from the alleged accounts of the judgement debtors.

The CBN, however, filed an affidavit to show cause, asserting that it did not hold any accounts in the names of the judgement debtors and was therefore unable to comply with the order.

Despite this, the Federal High Court made the Garnishee Order Absolute on January 21, 2019, prompting the CBN to appeal the decision.

The Court of Appeal, in its ruling on December 4, 2020, dismissed the CBN’s appeal, reasoning that since the judgement debtors were government agencies, their funds must be held under the TSA policy.

Relying on Section 124 of the Evidence Act, the appellate court took judicial notice of the TSA framework and upheld the garnishee proceedings.

Dissatisfied, the CBN took the matter to the Supreme Court, arguing that the proceedings were invalid due to the judgement creditors’ failure to obtain the consent of the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), as required by Section 84 of the Sheriffs and Civil Process Act (SCPA).

The apex court ruled in favour of the CBN, determining that the Inspector General of Police, the Commissioner of Police (FCT), and the Officer in Charge of SARS are not Ministries, Departments, or Agencies (MDAs) of the Federal Government and, therefore, do not fall under the TSA framework.

Justice Abiru, delivering the lead judgment, criticised the decision of the lower courts as “perverse,” stating that it relied on irrelevant considerations and failed to assess the evidence properly.

The Supreme Court held that the first respondent failed to provide specific details of the accounts allegedly maintained by the judgement debtors at the CBN.

The Supreme Court set aside the Court of Appeal’s judgement, dismissed the garnishee proceedings, and discharged the CBN from any liability in the matter.

Each party was ordered to bear its own costs.

While the majority judgement refrained from making a direct ruling on the applicability of Section 84, it did not render the provision obsolete.