Court Of Appeal Questions Oyo Governor Makinde’s Competence Over N3.4b Debt Appeal

The Court of Appeal in Abuja has raised questions about the validity of an appeal brought by Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, and other state officials…CONTINUE READING....KINDLY READ THE FULL STORY HERE▶

The appeal challenges an order from the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) that they pay the outstanding balance of N3,374,889,425.60 (N3.4b) from a debt of N4,874,889,425.60 (N4.9b) arising from a Supreme Court judgment on May 7, 2021.

During the proceedings of the appeal marked: CA/ABJ/CV/595/2023, a three-member panel of the court asked the appellants’ lawyer, Ayodele Akintunde (SAN).

whether the matter was appropriate for the Court of Appeal to review, considering that the Supreme Court had already ruled on it. The court also inquired about the time limit imposed by the Supreme Court for the full payment of the judgment debt.

The Court of Appeal also raised concerns about the competence of a motion filed by the appellants, requesting permission to pay the debt in installments.

This motion was seen as contradictory to the appeal itself, which challenges a similar installment payment arrangement ordered by the High Court of the FCT.

In response, Akintunde clarified that the Supreme Court had indeed ordered the Oyo State Government to pay the debt within three months.

He argued that the appeal did not directly address the Supreme Court’s judgment and that the judgment was no longer under the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court but had been transferred to the High Court of Oyo State, later registered in the High Court of the FCT. He also noted that the parties involved had taken certain steps to compromise the judgment.