Supreme Court Orders LMC To Cough Out Over 240 Million Naira
After losing at the Supreme Court in a major landmark Judgment by the highest court in the land, the League Management Company Limited, LMC is now condemned to cough out the total sum Two Hundred and Forty – One Million, Nine Hundred and Fifteen Thousand Six Hundred and Forty- Four Naira (241,915,644.00 Naira)
Earlier in September 28th. 2012, Justice O. A. Adefope – Okojie of the Federal High Court of Lagos State in her Judgment awarded the said amount to the Claimants, Emmanuel Oboh and Associates against the sole defendant Nigeria Football League Limited at the said trial court.
However in a spirited effort not to pay the awarded cost, the LMC argued in an affidavit that it didn’t know the 1st. Respondent NFL, adding that the Justice Okorowo in FHC/ABJ/CS/179/2010 had declared its incorporation as illegal and void.
This made the trial court of Justice Adefope – Okojie to revisit and review her earlier Judgment so as to make the final decision nugatory and unenforceable.
But the Supreme Court categorically emphasized that there is no any power or jurisdiction enures to the court before which application for ganishee absolute is pending to constitute itself into a appellate court to review the money Judgment being enforced.
According to the Supreme Court, “it is in any doubt that on 9th. July 2013, the trial High Court of ( Adefope – Okojie ) entered judgment against the 1st. Respondent, NFL in the sum of ( 232,915,644.00 ) in favor of the Appellants, adding that the Justice Okorowo was executory and placed a further duty on a third party, the Corporate Affairs Commission to wind up the 1st. Respondent, NFL while there was no evidence that at all times material to the decision appealed, the winding up order had been carried out or duly executed.
It therefore concluded that the judgment subsists and remains binding and it took immediate effect from the date it was pronounced.
Consequently, the Supreme Court decided that the indebtedness of the judgment debtor to the judgment creditor is no longer an issue while the appeal of the Appellants was allowed.
