The Court of Appeal in Abuja has directed the Kogi State Government to pay a total of ₦1,070,860,138.00 to the impeached former Deputy Governor, Elder Simon Achuba, being his unpaid salaries, allowances, and statutory entitlements as captured in the state’s approved budgets for 2017 and 2018.
The appellate court gave the order in a unanimous ruling on Friday, in response to an application by Achuba seeking enforcement of an earlier judgement delivered in his favour on April 29, 2024.
The April judgement had affirmed Achuba’s entitlement to the full remuneration due to him as deputy governor.
However, when he sought payment from the Kogi State Government, he was informed that the state owed him nothing and that no such directive existed in the court’s ruling.
Following the refusal to comply with the judgement, Achuba, through his counsel Samuel Ogala, returned to the Court of Appeal for enforcement.
Delivering the ruling on Friday, Justice Okon Abang, who led a three-member panel, declared that Achuba’s entitlements must be paid immediately.
The court ordered the Kogi government to remit the total sum as captured in the approved budgets, firmly rejecting the state’s objection that the court lacked jurisdiction.
“This is a post-judgement application, and this court has the jurisdiction to entertain it,” Justice Abang stated.
“The court is not functus officio in an application for enforcement of its own judgement. The applicant is not seeking a review of a concluded matter, but merely asking for the enforcement of the judgement delivered on April 29, 2024.”
Achuba was impeached in 2019 by the Kogi State House of Assembly following allegations of gross misconduct, as investigated by a panel set up by the late Chief Judge of the state, Justice Nasir Ajana.
He was subsequently replaced by Edward Onoja, who was later re-elected as deputy to then Governor Yahaya Bello.
However, a Kogi State High Court later ruled that Onoja’s nomination and swearing-in did not follow due process.
In a separate suit, Achuba had also approached the National Industrial Court in Abuja to challenge the state’s decision to withhold his entitlements, arguing that it amounted to unfair labour practice. [Tribune]
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