Nigeria‘s CBN Boss, Cardoso
The governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Olayemi Cardoso, alongside Kofo Salam-Alada, the bank’s director of Legal Services, are facing contempt proceedings over alleged failure to fully comply with a Supreme Court judgment that ordered the release of funds previously forfeited in a case involving Melrose General Services Limited.
Justice Inyang Ekwo, of a Federal High Court, Abuja, has fixed June 4 to hear the application filed by Melrose General Services Limited, a firm involved in the Paris Club refund.
Melrose General Services is one of the firms linked to the controversial Paris Club refund, a settlement involving payments to consultants engaged by the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF) to help secure reimbursements from the federal government.
The Supreme Court had in June 2024, in a ruling reversed the interim forfeiture of N1.22 billion and N220 million, which had been frozen following an investigation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Supreme Court had ruled in favour of Melrose, stating that the EFCC failed to prove the funds were proceeds of fraud.
Consequently, the court ordered the release of the N1,222,384,857.84 billion in Melrose’s bank account and the N220 million paid by the company to Wasp Networks and Thebe Wellness as a loan and investment.
Meanwhile, the judgment creditor, Melrose, in the contempt proceedings application brought before the Federal High Court, is claiming that despite the ruling of the Supreme Court, only the N1.22 billion has been refunded, while the outstanding N220 million remains unpaid.
Melrose consequently, through its lawyer, Chikaosolu Ojukwu, filed a contempt suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/532/2025 against Cardoso, Salam-Alada, the EFCC, and the Finance Minister.
Ojukwu argued that the defendants’ failure to fully comply with the judgment amounts to contempt of court.
On March 27, 2025, Justice Ekwo granted Melrose permission to serve contempt notices (Forms 48 and 49) on Cardoso and Salam-Alada and gave all parties seven days to respond.
At the hearing on April 10, Segun Fiki, who represented Melrose, confirmed that all parties, except the Finance Ministry, had responded.
Abdulfatai Oyedele, counsel to the CBN, filed a preliminary objection and a counter-affidavit.
He argued that the Supreme Court did not order the N220 million to be paid to Melrose but rather to the original recipients, Wasp Network Limited and Thebe Wellness Services.
Oyedele said solicitors for Wasp Network had requested payment of N200 million, while Thebe Wellness had yet to lay claim to their N20 million share. He insisted that the CBN had complied with the judgment and committed no wrongdoing.
M. A. Babatunde, counsel to the EFCC, filed a motion for misjoinder, arguing that the agency should not be a party to the contempt suit.
Source TheCable
