"This Court in several of its decisions has held that the prior consent of the Attorney-General under Section 84 of the Sheriffs and Civil Process Act is necessary and mandatory before the judgment of the Court can be properly enforced against the state. Obtaining the fiat of the Attorney-General is a condition precedent which must be complied with before a party commences garnishee proceeding and failure of the party to obtain the consent of the Attorney-General robs the Court of the jurisdiction to entertain the action and renders the whole proceeding a nullity.
See Onjewu Vs. Kogi State Ministry of Commerce & Industry (2003) 10 NWLR (Pt. 827) 40, Government of AkwaIbom State Vs. Powercom (Nig) Ltd (2004) 6 NWLR (Pt. 868) 202, Central Bank of Nigeria Vs. Hydro Air PTY (2014) 16 NWLR (Pt. 1434) 482, Central Bank of Nigeria Vs. Alhaji Mohammed Kakuri (2016) LPELR – 41469 CA, Appeal No. CA/L/710/2015 Sani Vs. Unity Bank Plc & Central Bank of Nigeria (unreported) delivered on 10th March, 2017, Appeal No. CA/YL/132/2015 Central BANK OF Nigeria Vs. Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria & 10 Ors. (unreported) delivered on 12th April 2017, Appeal No. CA/YL/76/2016, Central Bank Vs. MaiyiniCentury Co. Ltd (unreported) delivered on 30th May, 2017 and Central Bank of Nigeria Vs. OSCKO Petroleum Ltd. & Ors (2018) LPELR – 46732 CA.
There are however some decisions of this court and I have come across only a couple where the contrary view was held. These are; Central Bank of Nigeria Vs. Zenith Bank Plc & Anor (2019) LPELR – 48383 CA and C. B. N. Vs. Musa Zakari (2018) LPELR – 44751. I will cast my lot with those who held the view that the consent of the Attorney General is a condition precedent for the commencement of garnishee proceedings against a public officer which the appellant is; not because those who held the opposing view are apparently a minority but because the position of the law as contained in the majority judgments was not affected by the decision of the Supreme Court in Central Bank of Nigeria Vs. Interstella Communications Ltd & 3 Ors (2018) 7 NWLR 294 (Pt. 1618) 294.
CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA VS UMAR SAJO & 2 ORS. (2020) Legalpedia (CA) 14682.
Strictly Legal Precedents
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