A Federal High Court in Abuja has dismissed a fresh suit seeking to stop the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offenses Commission (ICPC) from issuing Post-no-debit (PND) directives on bank accounts.
The judgment, delivered by Justice Emeka Nwite, struck out the suit filed by James Erebuoye, Emon Aje Okune, and Dorason Global Construction Ltd. against ICPC, Polaris bank and Sterling bank.
According to a statement issued on Thursday by the ICPC spokesperson, J. Okor Odey, the judge held that the matter amounted to “a clear attempt to create judicial anarchy” and “a classical act of abuse of court process.”
The plaintiffs were challenging PND restrictions placed on their bank accounts which they had previously taken before the FCT High Court in two similar suits CV/2278/2020 and CV/2279/2020. In February 2021, Justice Babangida Hassan dismissed both suits and affirmed that ICPC had the legal power under Section 45(1) of the ICPC Act to issue a PND directive “without first obtaining a court order.”
Despite appealing that earlier decision, the plaintiffs returned to the Federal high court with a new suit seeking the same reliefs and demanding N95.2 million in damages.
Justice Nwite ruled that their action was an improper attempt to re-litigate a matter already decided, stressing that a federal high court cannot act as an appellate court over a ruling delivered by a court of coordinate jurisdiction. He said the plaintiffs ought to have waited for the court of appeal to decide on their pending appeal rather than filing a fresh case.
The judge upheld a preliminary objection filed by ICPC, supported by Polaris Bank and Sterling Bank, insisting the court lacked the jurisdiction to entertain the suit.
He subsequently dismissed the case in its entirety and awarded N600,000 in costs with N200,000 each in favour of ICPC, Polaris Bank and Sterling Bank.
The ICPC said the ruling “reinforces the commission’s statutory authority to issue post-no-debit directives in the course of investigations” and sends a strong message against repeated litigation on already settled matters.
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