RismadarVoice Reporters
February 7, 2026
The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja has threatened to sanction the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) if it further delays the payment of a N2.5 billion judgment debt owed to 110 workers unlawfully sacked by Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, in 1996.
The warning was issued on Friday after the appellate court dismissed fresh attempts by the CBN and ABU to halt the release of the funds meant for the affected workers.
In two unanimous judgments delivered by separate three-man panels, the Court of Appeal ordered the CBN to immediately release the N2.5 billion deposited with it by ABU for onward payment to the workers.
Delivering the lead judgment, Justice Okon Abang rejected the CBN’s argument that the former ABU employees, whose reinstatement had earlier been ordered by the National Industrial Court (NIC), could not institute garnishee proceedings against the apex bank to recover the judgment sum.
The court also dismissed the claim that the consent of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice was required before the payment could be effected.
Both the CBN and ABU had separately appealed against the decision of the National Industrial Court, which ordered the university to pay the entitlements of the 110 workers after finding that they were unlawfully laid off by the sole administrator of the institution, Gen. Mamman Kontagora (rtd), in 1996. The appellants also challenged the garnishee proceedings initiated by the workers to enforce the judgment.
The Court of Appeal, however, dismissed the two appeals, describing them as lacking merit.
Justice Rakiya Haastrup of the National Industrial Court had on January 27, 2022, issued a garnishee order absolute directing the CBN to pay the judgment sum to the workers from ABU’s funds lodged with the bank.
Justice Abang held that the workers were right to commence garnishee proceedings against the CBN to enforce payment of their entitlements.
The appellate court further criticised the CBN for expending public funds on legal actions aimed at frustrating the execution of the judgment, describing the conduct of the apex bank as reckless and reprehensible, especially as ABU had already deposited the money with it for settlement of the debt.
“In this matter, it is not the duty of the CBN to play the role of an advocate but to implement the court judgment that awarded the money to the workers in the absence of any contrary court order,” Justice Abang said.
He added that it was unethical for the CBN’s lawyer to support actions that frustrated the judgment of the Industrial Court, noting that the delay had prolonged the suffering and hardship of the workers.
“How can the CBN be asking that an order of the court not made against it be vacated when it has been holding the workers’ money since 2018? The situation must not continue. There must be an end to it. The workers deserve the fruit of their labour,” the judge said.
The Court of Appeal also awarded N5 million against the CBN, another N5 million against ABU as costs, to be paid to the workers in addition to the N2.5 billion judgment sum.
