By EDITH NWAPI

The Court of Appeal in Abuja on Tuesday, dismissed an application filed by the management of Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) seeking to adduce fresh evidence in the N2.5 billion judgment debt owed to 110 disengaged workers.

The appellants are ABU, Zaira management, minister of Education and the Attorney General of the Federation while the respondents are the 110 disengaged staff members of the school.

In a suit marked CA/ABJ/CV/476/2023 the ABU management through its counsel Musa asked the appellate Court to allow them adduce fresh evidence.

Ruling on the application, Justice O.O Oyewunmi dismissed the appeal on grounds that the requirements for such prayers were not met by the applicant.

The court held that there are evidence in law which in exception can allow the court to grant such order but the instant case is not one of such.

The appeal was subsequently dismissed.

The date for the substantive suit is yet to be fixed.

Musa Yahaya, counsel for ABU management, had in March prayed the court to admit the fresh evidence.

Whereas counsel for the 110 disengaged staff, Mr Adegboyega Kolade, prayed the court to refuse the appellant/applicant prayers.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports that the appointment of 110 ABU staff were terminated in 1996.

They approached the court in 2012, after failure of the institution to implement the recommendations of various visitation panels, which recommended that they be reinstated and all their entitlements paid.

NAN also reports that the court ruled in favour of the staff in 2015 and ordered the university to reinstate them and pay their entitlements, which amounted to N2.5 billion.

Non-compliance with the court judgment necessitated the garnishee order on the institution?s bank accounts in 2017.

However, when the garnishee proceeding was ongoing, the judgment debtors filed for a stay of proceeding as they had filed an appeal before Appeal Court in Nov. 2018, contesting the 2015 judgment.

The Court of Appeal on its part on May 24, 2021, dismissed the appeal and affirmed the decision of the lower court.

The National Industrial Court then on Jan. 27 through a ruling made an order absolute in a garnishee proceeding ordering the CBN to pay the disengaged staff. (NAN)

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