Court Freezes Zamfara Government's Accounts Over N3bn Debt

A Judge of the Federal High Court in Lagos yesterday has restrained the Zamfara State Government from operating in any form its accounts in 21 banks in the country until a N3.1billion debt the state owed Ecobank Nigeria Limited is paid.


The Judge, Justice Okon Abang also ordered the 21 banks involved to disclose the amount of money which Zamfara State had in its accounts with them.

According to Leadership, Abang had on September 30, 2015, entered judgment in favour of Ecobank in a N3.1bn debt recovery suit the bank filed against Zamfara State Government and six others.

The judge had granted the bank’s claim of N3.1bn with 30 per cent interest from March 1, 2013 till judgment day and 10 per cent thereafter until the final liquidation of the debt.

Both Zamfara State and the CBN went on an appeal and subsequently urged Abang to stay execution of the judgment pending the determination of the appeals.

In a ruling on Tuesday, however, Abang dismissed both applications and asked Ecobank to proceed with the process of recovering the debt from Zamfara State.

Abang further directed the banks to appear before him on November 6, 2015, to give reasons, if they have any, why such funds should not be withdrawn to defray the debt.