A consulting firm, Melrose General Services Limited, has filed a contempt of court charge against the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Olayemi Cardoso, and the CBN’s Director of Legal Services, Mr. Salam-Alada Kofo, for allegedly disobeying a Supreme Court judgment concerning the Paris Club refund.
The suit, filed at the Federal High Court in Abuja and marked FHC/ABJ/CS/532/2025, accuses the CBN officials of partial compliance with a Supreme Court ruling delivered in June 2024. The apex court had ordered the release of a total of N1.442 billion—comprising N1.22 billion and an additional N220 million—which had earlier been forfeited to the Federal Government after an investigation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The Paris Club refund issue is part of a longstanding dispute involving payments made to consultants who provided services to the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF) during the refund process. Melrose General Services was among those firms contracted in connection to the disbursement of overpaid debts by Nigeria to the Paris Club of creditors.
In 2020, the EFCC had secured an interim forfeiture order from a lower court to freeze the accounts containing the funds linked to Melrose. The anti-graft agency alleged that the funds were proceeds of fraud.
However, Melrose challenged the forfeiture, and after several years of legal battles, the Supreme Court ruled in June 2024 that the EFCC failed to prove that the funds were illegally obtained. The Court, therefore, reversed the forfeiture and ordered that the funds be returned to their rightful owners.
While the CBN reportedly refunded the N1.22 billion to Melrose, the consulting firm claims the additional N220 million remains unpaid. According to court documents, the N220 million had been transferred by Melrose to Wasp Networks and Thebe Wellness as loans and investments before the initial forfeiture.
Melrose’s lawyer, Chief Chikaosolu Ojukwu (SAN), filed the contempt application, accusing the CBN and the EFCC of ignoring the apex court’s directive. He argued that the failure to release the N220 million was a direct violation of the court’s order and a show of disrespect to the nation’s highest court.
Ojukwu further stated that the refusal to comply undermines the authority of the judiciary and sends a dangerous signal about the willingness of government agencies to obey the rule of law.
The CBN, through its legal representative Abdulfatai Oyedele, filed a counter-affidavit and a preliminary objection to the contempt charge. Oyedele argued that the Supreme Court did not order the N220 million to be paid directly to Melrose, but instead to the accounts of Wasp Network and Thebe Wellness—the original recipients of the money before the forfeiture.
The CBN explained that while Wasp Network’s lawyers had already approached them for payment of N200 million, Thebe Wellness had not yet come forward to claim the remaining N20 million. The apex bank insisted that it was complying with the Supreme Court’s ruling and had done nothing wrong or unethical.
Meanwhile, the EFCC, represented by counsel Martha Babatunde, filed a motion for misjoinder. The anti-graft agency argued that it should not be part of the contempt proceedings since the matter now rested with the CBN, which is responsible for releasing the funds.
Justice Inyang Ekwo, the trial judge, had on March 27 granted Melrose’s request to serve the contempt forms—Form 48 (Notice of Consequences of Disobedience of Court Order) and Form 49 (Notice to Show Cause Why an Order of Committal Should Not Be Made)—on the CBN Governor, the CBN Legal Director, the EFCC, and the Minister of Finance. They were given seven days to respond.
At the most recent hearing on April 10, Melrose’s counsel, Segun Fiki, told the court that all parties except the Ministry of Finance had responded. The case has now been adjourned until June 4, 2025, for hearing.
This case adds a new chapter to the long-running controversies surrounding the Paris Club refunds, which have been marred by allegations of fraud, multiple lawsuits, and questionable contracts. It also raises fresh concerns about transparency and accountability in the handling of public funds and court judgments in Nigeria.
The outcome of the contempt case will be closely watched by legal experts, civil society groups, and stakeholders in the financial and judicial sectors. It will also serve as a test of the independence of the judiciary and whether government institutions will respect the rule of law in the face of binding decisions from the nation’s highest court.
CBN officials maintain that they are ready to comply with the law, but are only acting based on the precise wording of the court’s judgment, which, they say, does not direct them to pay the N220 million to Melrose directly.
