The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and a private firm, Melrose General Services, on Monday, agree to settle their legal dispute at the Federal High Court in Abuja out of court
The development was made known by Yusuf Ali, counsel for the CBN Governor, Olayemi Cardoso, and Chikaosolu Ojukwu, lawyer representing Melrose, during Monday’s proceedings.
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The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Melrose had in a suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/532/2025, filed a contempt charge against Cardoso over alleged disobedience to a Supreme Court judgment.
In June 2024, the Supreme Court overturned a previous forfeiture order against Melrose General Services Limited’s funds, which had been frozen following an investigation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
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The disputed sums are comprised of N1,222,384,857.84 in Melrose’s bank account and N220 million paid by the company to Wasp Networks and Thebe Wellness as loan and investment.
The Supreme Court had ruled that the EFCC had not proven the funds were proceeds of fraud, as alleged.
The court set aside the lower courts’ forfeiture orders, directing the release of the funds to their rightful owners.
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However, after the Supreme Court’s decision, Melrose’s lawyers filed a lawsuit at the trial court, alleging that the CBN and its top officials had only partially complied with the judgement.
Melrose, in its application before Judge Mohammed Umar maintained that while the N1.22 billion was refunded, the outstanding N220 million remained unpaid.
The disputed money was part of the Paris Club refund.
At the resumed hearing on Monday, CBN governor’s lawyer, Mr Ali, told the judge that, while the matter started with “some very big figures” of money, the outstanding amount “just N20 million.”
According to him, parties’ lawyers have had preliminary discussions and held the view that the matter is one that could be settled out of court without the court having to write a ruling on.
The senior lawyer then asked for a date to come back and make a report on the settlement.
Mr Ojukwu also confirmed Mr Ali’s statement.
“He(Ali) has agreed to speak to the CBN on the matter,” Mr Ojukwu said.
He said parties opted for reconciliation and the judge adjourned the matter until 22 July for a report on the settlement
Melrose, through its counsel, filed the contempt suit against the CBN governor, the bank’s Director of Legal Services, Salam-Alada Kofo, and the EFCC. Also joined in the suit is the Minister of Finance.
It argued that their refusal to release the full amount constitutes contempt of court and undermines the Supreme Court’s authority.
NAN reports that the dispute stemmed from the controversial Paris Club refund, a settlement involving payments to consultants for services rendered to the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF).
The EFCC had claimed that an investigation revealed N3.5 billion was allegedly fraudulently paid to the appellant for a purported consultancy job for the NGF.
At the Supreme Court, Melrose’s legal team argued that the disputed funds were payment for a contractual and consultancy agreement between their client and relevant government stakeholders.
In its majority decision, the Supreme Court agreed with the appellant, ruling that the EFCC failed to prove the funds were proceeds of fraud.
Consequently, the court upheld the appellant’s case and set aside the lower courts’ forfeiture orders.
(NAN)
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