The National Industrial Court has fixed Tuesday to deliver judgment in an ex-governor, Jolly Nyame, and three others suit for non-payment of their pension benefit arrears.
The other judgment creditors in the suit are Uba Ahmadu, Abubakar Armayau, and Bilkisu Danboyi.
The judgment creditors had filed the suit against the judgment debtor, the Taraba State Government and the garnishee debtor, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), through a garnishee proceeding.
Garnishee proceedings are simply a judicial process of execution or enforcement of the monetary judgment by the seizure or attachment of the debts due or accruing to the judgment debtor which form part of his property available in execution.
Garnishee is a third person in whose hands the debt of the judgment debtor is kept.
The matter which came up on Monday for ruling before Justice Osatohanmwen Obaseki-Osaghae, had to be adjourned for judgment to enable a pending application to be taken.
The judge thereafter allowed the judgment debtor through its counsel, D. Sambo to take the application, which she said that judgment will be delivered on with the previous application that had been taken previously.
The counsel informed the court that he had an application filed on Jan. 24, seeking for the order of the court to set aside the Order Nisi granted in favour of the judgment creditors on Dec. 2,2021.
He further said that the motion was supported by an 11-paragraph affidavit, attached with one exhibit.
The counsel in addition submitted that he had also filed a Written Address as his oral submission and urged the court to adopt same.
The judgment creditors counsel, E. Irhilure on his part responded that he was opposing the application through his own application filed on Jan. 31 supported with a 3-paragraph affidavit attached with two exhibits.
Irhilure equally said that in addition to the affidavit was a filed Written Address in support, urged the court to adopt as his submission in response as same, and urged the court to dismiss Sambo’s application.
CBN counsel, I. Wali in his submission informed the court that he was not opposing the judgment debtor’s application.
The court, therefore, adjourned until Tuesday to deliver judgment on the applications.
The News Agency of Nigeria ( NAN) reports that the judgment creditors approached the court to seek redress after the judgment debtor failed to obey the court order in a judgment delivered on July 12 ,2019.
In the judgment, the court had ordered the payment of the sum of N151.1 million being the unpaid pension arrears of the judgment creditors.
The order of the court however was not obeyed, hence the instituting of the garnishee proceeding by the judgment creditors.
The judgment which was delivered by Justice Sanusi Kado was for their unpaid pension arrears from May 2013 to Oct.2015.
The court in the said judgment had ordered 10 equal installments payments commencing from July 2019 on a monthly basis until the final liquidation of the total sum.
The judgment further stated that failure of the judgment debtors to abide by the decision of the court will attract 10 per cent interest rate.
NAN also reports that the judgment creditors who were former employees of the judgment debtor upon retirement were paid the sum of N45 million out of their total pension arrears of N196 million.
- NAN