Federal High Court in Abuja has rejected objections by Niger and Kogi states to the execution of a judgment which granted financial autonomy to the judiciary.

The January 13, 2014 judgment given by Justice Adeniyi Ademola (then of the Federal High Court, Abuja), in a suit by the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN), prohibited the piecemeal release of budgetary allocations to the judiciary at the state and federal levels by the executive.

Justice Okon Abang, in two separate rulings yesterday, dismissed two sets of applications filed by both states, and another one by the judgment creditor – JUSUN – for incompetency.

The first ruling was on an application by Kogi State Governor and the state’s Attorney-General, where they prayed the court to set aside the January 13, 2014 judgment. They argued that they were not served the originating processes in the suit and were not heard in the proceedings leading to the judgment.

Justice Abang held that the application (listed as the 45th and 46th judgment debtors/applicants) were incompetent, having not been filed in accordance with the provisions of Order 19 Rule 3 of the Federal High Court (Civil Procedure) Rules.

The judge said the court’s rules provides that an application to set aside a judgment given behind a party should be made within six days after the judgment or such other longer period as the judge may allow, a provision the applicants failed to comply with.

He noted that the applicants did not only file their application outside the time allowed, they also lied about their claim that they were not aware of the judgment.

Justice Abang also faulted the affidavit, filed along with the application, on the grounds that it was deposed to by the wrong person.

He said it was the parties, who denied being served with court processes that ought to personally depose to such affidavit, and not a third party, as was done in this instance.

“This application is a hopeless and unpardonable abuse of court process. The application dismissed. N50,000 is awarded against the 45th and 46th judgment debtors applicants, to be paid to the judgment creditor (JUSUN) before the next adjourned date,” he said.

In the second ruling, the judge dismissed another set of applications by the governors of Kogi and Niger States and their Attorney Generals, listed as 45th, 46th, 53rd and 54th judgment debtors/applicants, on the grounds that they were incompetent.

The four applicants had urged the court to set aside the proceedings leading to the grant of garnishee order nisi in the garnishee proceedings initiated against them by JUSUN in execution of the January 13, 2014 judgment.

They also urged the court to declare the proceedings as a nullity and set aside the order nisi on the grounds that there were not served with the order nisi.

Justice Abang, in dismissing the applications, held that the applicants could not query the competence of a garnishee proceedings just because they have not been served with an order nisi.

The judge also dismissed an application by the judgment creditor, with which it had urged the court to make the order nisi absolute.

Justice Abang held that JUSUN’s application was not within the powers of a judgment creditor to apply that a garnishee order nisi earlier granted be made absolute.

He noted that the order nisi, granted on November 21, 2018, by Justice Babatybde Quadri (also of the Federal High Court) was vague as it did not stipulate the amount of the judgment debt to be attached.

The judge held that the judgment creditor was at liberty to file a fresh application for a garnishee order nisi after computing what amount is due to it from the judgment.

He said: “The judgment creditor will, as a matter of urgency, calculate what it is entitled to by virtue of the judgment made on January 13, 2014. Once the amount is ascertained, the judgment creditor will be at liberty to file a fresh ex-parte application to attach the accounts of the judgment debtors.

“The judgment creditor should serve the order nisi on the debtor and garnishee after filing a fresh application.

“In the final analysis, the three applications by judgment creditor and debtors are incompetent and are struck out.”

The judge adjourned till April 7 for the garnishee proceedings.