The Federal High Court in Abuja has filed a contempt of court lawsuit against Olayemi Cardoso, the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, and Salam-Alada Kofo, the director of legal services for the CBN, for allegedly failing to completely abide by a Supreme Court ruling.
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Cardoso, Kofo, the CBN, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, and the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of Economy, Wale Edun, were listed as respondents in a contempt suit brought by the applicant, Melrose General Services, with the filing number FHC/ABJ/CS/532/2025.
Despite the Supreme Court’s ruling overturning the previous seizure of the cash, the applicant alleges that the respondents did not release its N220 million.
According to reports, the lawsuit is related to the contentious Paris Club reimbursement, which included payments made to consultants who provided services to the Nigerian Governors’ Forum.
The release of frozen monies, including N1.22 billion held in Melrose General Services Limited’s bank account and N220 million given to Wasp Networks and Thebe Wellness as loans and investments, was ordered by the Supreme Court in June 2024 after it overturned a prior forfeiture ruling impacting the company.
The court decided that the EFCC had not demonstrated that the money was, as claimed, the proceeds of fraud and ordered that the full sums be returned to the legitimate owners.
However, a year after the Supreme Court’s ruling, Melrose claimed that although the CBN had reimbursed N1.22 billion, the remaining N220 million was still underpaid.
Melrose contended through its attorney, Chikaosolu Ojukwu, SAN, that the failure to follow the court’s order amounted to contempt of court.
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The firm argued that the Supreme Court’s authority is undermined by the limited compliance.
Oyedele added that Thebe Wellness had not yet claimed N20m, whereas Wasp Network had asked for N200m.
M.A. Babatunde, the EFCC’s lawyer, filed a motion for misjoinder, arguing that the agency shouldn’t be involved in the case.
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