The National Industrial Court sitting in Abuja has ordered United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc to pay N1.07 billion to former Kogi State Deputy Governor, Simon Achuba, in satisfaction of a judgment debt owed to him by the Kogi State Government.

Justice R. B. Haastrup, in a ruling delivered on 27 November, made absolute an earlier garnishee order nisi, rejecting UBA’s claim that the funds in the relevant Kogi State Government account were restricted World Bank monies jointly owned by 19 northern states.

Achuba’s counsel, Femi Falana (SAN), argued that UBA had already admitted holding sufficient funds in the Kogi State ACRESAL IDA Designated Account, a dollar-denominated account domiciled at the bank.

The court held that UBA failed to provide any documentary evidence to prove the funds were exempt from garnishee proceedings.

Justice Haastrup ruled that once a garnishee admits to holding adequate funds, “the law does not permit depriving a successful litigant of the fruits of his judgment.”

The court ordered UBA to pay: N1,070,860,138 (the outstanding judgment sum), N2 million (costs awarded by the Court of Appeal), and N1 million (costs of the garnishee proceedings).

Payment is to be made directly into Achuba’s Access Bank account.

Other banks joined in the suit — Zenith, First Bank, GTBank, Access and Polaris — were discharged.

The judge also criticised the conduct of Kogi State Government’s counsel, Paul Daudu (SAN), describing his application as malafide and aimed at undermining the Court of Appeal. He awarded N1 million personally against Daudu.

This ruling marks a significant milestone in Achuba’s long-running dispute with the Kogi State Government following his controversial removal from office in 2019.