Appeal court orders CBN to pay sacked ABU staff N2.5bn
The Court of Appeal in Abuja has directed the Central Bank of Nigeria to pay N2.5bn to 110 former workers of Ahmadu Bello University who were unlawfully dismissed. The court criticized the CBN for delaying the payment and warned of possible sanctions if further delays occur. The appellate court also dismissed fresh attempts by the CBN and ABU to halt the payment. Additional costs were awarded against both the CBN and ABU in favour of the affected workers.
What we know
- The Court of Appeal ordered the CBN to immediately release N2.5bn deposited by ABU for payment to 110 unlawfully sacked workers.
- The court dismissed the CBN’s argument that the workers could not initiate garnishee proceedings to recover the judgment sum.
- The appellate court rejected claims that the Attorney General’s consent was needed before payment.
- Justice Rakiya Haastrup of the National Industrial Court had issued a garnishee order absolute, directing the CBN to pay the workers from ABU’s funds.
- The Court of Appeal awarded N5m each against the CBN and ABU as costs to be paid to the workers, in addition to the N2.5bn judgment sum.
