Paris Club Case: Appeal Court relieves CBN of N38.8bn liability

The Court of Appeal Nigeria sitting in Abuja has set aside a N38.88 billion judgment previously awarded against the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in a protracted dispute over consultancy fees linked to the Paris Club refund. 

In a unanimous judgment delivered on February 20, the appellate court overturned the earlier ruling of the Federal High Court, which had granted the award in favour of Joe Agi (SAN) over claims to consultancy fees arising from the Paris Club refund arrangement.

Agi had filed the suit in 2017 against the minister of finance, the Incorporated Trustees of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, and the attorneys-general of the 36 states, seeking entitlement to 20 percent of the Paris Club refund as consultancy fees. The Federal High Court ruled in his favour in 2022, prompting appeals by the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) and the state attorneys-general.

Following the initial judgment, Agi commenced garnishee proceedings to enforce the award and secured a garnishee order nisi against the CBN. Despite objections by the apex bank, the lower court later made the order absolute on October 18, 2022.

However, the Court of Appeal held that the Federal High Court lacked jurisdiction to hear the matter, ruling that the claim was essentially a debt recovery issue which does not fall under the exclusive jurisdiction of the Federal High Court as provided in Section 251 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).

The appellate court also ruled that Agi lacked the legal standing to institute the action.

Having resolved the jurisdictional issues, the court allowed the substantive appeals and declared the garnishee proceedings academic, effectively nullifying enforcement actions against the CBN.

The ruling relieves the apex bank of liability exceeding N38.8 billion and brings a major twist to the long-running legal battle over the Paris Club refund consultancy claims.