The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja has again ordered the Kogi State government to pay Simon Achuba, a former deputy governor of the state, N1.07 billion, being outstanding salaries and allowances statutorily due to him.
The court gave the order in a ruling it delivered on Tuesday in Abuja.
The court affirmed its earlier position as the final arbiter to hear and determine all labour matters and held that the Kogi State government cannot appeal the matter further to the supreme court.
Delivering the lead ruling, Justice Okon Abang dismissed an application by the Governor of Kogi State and the State Attorney-General seeking to halt the enforcement of earlier Court of Appeal decisions in favour of Elder Simon Achuba, the former Deputy Governor of Kogi State.
The applicants also sought to take the matter further to the Supreme Court, but the appellate court held that the Constitution does not permit such appeals.
At the hearing, the applicants were represented by Adebayo Adedeji, SAN, alongside Precious Andrew, E.C. Onyekwere, and A. Ibe.
The respondent was represented by B. Samuel Ogola.
The case started in 2019, when Elder Simon Achuba was impeached as Deputy Governor of Kogi State, and he approached the National Industrial Court (NICN) seeking his unpaid salaries, travel allowances, and statutory entitlements.
On November 4, 2020, the Industrial Court ruled in his favour, ordering the Kogi State Government to pay him.
The state, dissatisfied, appealed and, on April 29, 2024, the Court of Appeal affirmed Achuba’s rights, holding that he was entitled to his monthly salaries and statutory allowances as contained in the 2017 and 2018 Kogi State budgets, though excluding security votes.
The Court stressed that the state government had no power to withhold these entitlements and despite the clarity of that judgment, the state defaulted and Achuba was compelled to institute a post-judgment application, culminating in a further ruling of the Court of Appeal on April 25, 2025, quantifying his entitlements at N1,070,860,138.00.
Rather than obey, the state sought a stay of execution pending an appeal to the Supreme Court, which has now been dismissed by the Appeal Court.
In the lead judgement, Justice Okon Abang reasserted the finality clause enshrined in Section 243(4) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), reiterating that the decisions of the Court in appeals arising from the civil jurisdiction of the National Industrial Court of Nigeria are final and warned that no amount of “legal gymnastics” can override this constitutional mandate
“My Lords, no rigmarole of any sort will save the Applicants here.
“I mean no manipulated legal argument will amend the provisions of Section 243(4) of the 1999 Constitution at the whims and caprices of the applicants to enable them to have a right of appeal with respect to final decisions of this Court in labour-related matters.
“When the law says the decision of this Court is final, there is nothing the applicants can do. It is as clear as daylight.”
Describing the appeal as baseless, unmeritorious, and reckless, the Court denounced the applicants’ manoeuvres as “executive lawlessness” and an audacious attempt to enthrone the rule of might over the rule of law.
In his closing remarks, Justice Abang held that : “The applicants cannot treat the Constitution of this great country with contempt and levity.
” If the government treat Court Orders with levity and contempt, the confidence of the citizen in the Courts will be seriously eroded and the effect of that will be the beginning of anarchy in place of the Rule of Law.”
The ruling of the appellate court not only resolved the long-running dispute between the Kogi State Government and its former Deputy Governor but also sets a powerful precedent as it underscores the judiciary’s role in upholding constitutional order, defending the rule of law, and protecting the integrity of labour justice in Nigeria.
Source – Kogi Report
(vitalnewsngr.com)
