*Holds Appeal Court Exceeded Jurisdiction
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The Supreme Court has set aside the ₦1.07 billion award earlier granted to former Deputy Governor of Kogi State, Elder Simon Achuba, over alleged unpaid salaries, allowances and other entitlements.
In a judgment delivered on May 8, 2026, in SC/CV/638/2025, the apex court, in a split decision of four-to-one, allowed the appeal filed by the Governor of Kogi State and another against Achuba.
The Supreme Court held that the Court of Appeal exceeded its jurisdiction when it entertained a post-judgment application and proceeded to calculate and award the sum of ₦1,070,860,138.00 in favour of the former deputy governor.
The dispute began at the National Industrial Court of Nigeria, Abuja Judicial Division, in Suit No. NICN/ABJ/244/2019, where Achuba claimed that his statutory benefits, including salaries, travel allowances, security votes and other allocations, were unlawfully withheld during his tenure as deputy governor.
He had initially sought declarations and a cumulative payout of ₦921,572,758.00.
On November 4, 2020, the National Industrial Court entered judgment partly in his favour. The court declared him entitled to salaries and travel allowances but awarded only the specific sum of ₦170 million as security votes.
Dissatisfied, both parties appealed to the Court of Appeal. On April 29, 2024, the appellate court upheld the declarations relating to Achuba’s entitlement but set aside the ₦170 million monetary award.
The matter later took a fresh turn when Achuba returned to the Court of Appeal through a post-judgment motion, asking the court to compel the Kogi State Government to pay him ₦1.07 billion, which he said represented his computed entitlements based on the state’s 2017 and 2018 approved budgets.
On April 25, 2025, a differently constituted panel of the Court of Appeal granted the application and ordered the Kogi State Government to pay the amount.
The state government appealed to the Supreme Court, arguing that the Court of Appeal had wrongly assumed original jurisdiction by entertaining a fresh monetary claim under the guise of enforcing its earlier declaratory judgment.
Counsel to the appellants, Chief J. B. Daudu, SAN, argued that the earlier judgment merely affirmed Achuba’s entitlement to salaries and allowances but did not determine or fix the exact amount payable to him.
He contended that if Achuba intended to claim a definite monetary sum, especially one running into billions of naira, the claim ought to have been properly commenced and proved before the National Industrial Court, being the court of first instance.
Achuba’s legal team, led by Chief Femi Falana, SAN, raised a preliminary objection, arguing that the Supreme Court lacked jurisdiction to entertain the appeal because, under Section 243(4) of the 1999 Constitution, appeals arising from the National Industrial Court terminate at the Court of Appeal.
However, in the lead judgment delivered by Justice Chioma Egondu Nwosu-Iheme, JSC, the Supreme Court dismissed the preliminary objection and held that the issue before it was not a further appeal on the merits of the labour dispute but a complaint that the Court of Appeal had wrongly assumed original jurisdiction.
The apex court held that the Court of Appeal became functus officio after delivering its judgment in the substantive appeal and could not, through a post-judgment motion, introduce and determine a fresh disputed monetary claim that had not been properly tried.
The court drew a distinction between a declaratory judgment affirming entitlement to salaries and allowances and a judgment awarding a specific quantified sum.
According to the Supreme Court, where a party claims a definite monetary amount, such claim must be supported by pleadings, evidence, computation and proper evaluation before a trial court.
The court held that a post-judgment motion cannot be used as a substitute for substantive proceedings involving assessment and proof of disputed financial claims.
It further held that by calculating and awarding the ₦1.07 billion claim without prior findings by the trial court on the exact sums due, the Court of Appeal effectively sat as a court of first instance.
Justice Nwosu-Iheme therefore allowed the appeal and set aside the ruling of the Court of Appeal delivered on April 25, 2025, in Appeal No. CA/APJ/PRE/ROA/CV/1053M/2024.
Justice Uwani Musa Abba Aji, JSC, concurred with the lead judgment, emphasising that once a court delivers final judgment, it becomes functus officio and cannot arbitrarily revisit or expand the judgment to include fresh monetary computations.
Justice Tijjani Abubakar, JSC, and Justice Jamilu Yammama Tukur, JSC, also agreed with the lead judgment and held that the appeal was meritorious.
However, Justice Obande Festus Ogbuinya, JSC, dissented. He held that the Court of Appeal acted within its powers under Sections 15 and 23 of the Court of Appeal Act to give practical effect to its earlier judgment and enforce its declarations.
By the majority decision, the Supreme Court set aside the ₦1.07 billion award earlier made in favour of Achuba and ordered parties to bear their respective costs.
Download; Hon. Justice Chioma Egondu Nwosu-Iheme, JSC
Download; Hon. Justice Uwani Musa Abba Aji, JSC
Download; Hon. Justice Tijjani Abubakar, JSC
Download Hon. Justice Jamilu Yammama Tukur, JSC
Download; Hon. Justice Obande Festus Ogbuinya, JSC
The ruling brings a major turn in the long-running legal dispute between the Kogi State Government and the former deputy governor. It also clarifies that courts cannot use post-judgment enforcement motions to introduce and award fresh liquidated monetary claims not previously tried and determined by a court of first instance.
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