Court orders Kogi to pay impeached deputy governor N180m security votes

The National Industrial Court in Abuja has ordered the Kogi State Government to pay a former Deputy Governor, Simon Achuba, all his outstanding security votes from April 2018 to August 2019, amounting to N180m.

Achuba was impeached by the state House of Assembly in 2019 and replaced by Edward Onoja, who was reelected last year with Governor Yahaya Bello.

Achuba’s impeachment followed the submission of a report of the committee set up by the former State Chief Judge, late Nasir Ajana, to investigate an allegation of gross misconduct against him.

However, a high court in Kogi declared that the subsequent nomination of Onoja and his inauguration as the deputy governor did not follow due process.

Achuba also dragged the state government before the National Industrial Court, seeking a declaration that the decision by the government to withhold his allowances amounted to unfair labour practice.

He also asked to be paid N921,572,758 as security vote, monthly imprest, travelling allowances, outstanding memos, and statutory allocations due to his office, as then deputy governor.

Delivering the judgement on Wednesday, Justice Oyebiola Oyewunmi ordered the state government to pay him N180 million within 30 days, failure which the amount would draw a 30 per cent monthly interest.