N2.5 billion judgment debt: Court upholds ABU’s stay of garnishee proceeding application

The National Industrial Court, Abuja, has upheld Ahmadu Bello
University (ABU) Zaria, application for stay of garnishee
proceeding in an N2.5billion judgment debt suit.

Garnishee proceeding is a judicial enforcement of monetary
judgment, whereby money belonging to a judgment debtor, in the
possession of a third party, usually a bank, is seized by a
judgment creditor.

ABU, the judgment debtor, in an application through it counsel,
Kayode Amodu, had urged the court to stay action in the garnishee
proceeding because there was an appeal pending before the Court of
Appeal.

Justice Rakiya Haastrup, in her ruling said the court will stay
proceeding pending the outcome of the matter before the Court of
Appeal.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), recalls that the appointments
of 110 ABU workers were terminated in 1996, when the institution
was run by a sole administrator.

They instituted a suit against the institution, and in 2015, the
court ruled in favour of the workers and ordered the university to
reinstate them and pay their entitlements, which amounted to
N2.5billion.

Non-compliance with the court judgment necessitated the workers,
who are the judgment creditor to institute another suit of
garnishee proceeding on the institution’s bank accounts to enforce
the payment of the judgment debt.

ABU filed an appeal before the Court of Appeal to appeal the
2015 judgment.

(NAN)