Innosson motors limited in Nnewi has advised the Guarantee Trust Bank, GTB, to stop deploying more resources to stop the execution of court order made against it.
The motor company said that the Federal High Court, sitting in Ibadan last Friday, refusal to hear or grant it an injunction to restrain Innoson from continuing to levy execution against it was a clear testimony that it had nothing more to do.
According to the Public Relations Officer of Innosson, Mr. Cornell Osigwe, who spoke with the Daily Trust on Monday in Nnewi, Anambra state, instead of GTB engaging in such wasteful desperation, the Bank should rather covert the money to shares for Innosson.
He said, “based on the foregoing and in furtherance of the letter to GTB by Counsel to Innoson Nigeria Ltd, McCarthy Mbadugha & Co on March 25th, 2019 that it pays the N2.4B judgment debt to Innoson Nigeria Ltd with the accrued interest of N6,717,909,849.96, Innoson Nigeria Ltd, therefore, demands from GTB that if it’s banking operation will be seriously and adversely affected, it should, as a matter of utmost urgency, convert the said sum or part of it into shares and allot same to Innoson Nigeria Ltd.
He said that it was the only way of stopping the motor company from taking over GTB’s property in the manner Innoson was doing.
According to him, “despite the decision of the Supreme Court on February 27th 2019, dismissing the appeal by Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB) and affirming thereby the concurrent judgment of Court of Appeal, Ibadan division and Federal High Court Ibadan, which ordered GTB by way of Garnishee Order Absolute to pay Innoson Nigeria Ltd the sum of N2.4 Billion with a 22% interest, per annum, on the judgment sum until the final liquidation of the judgment debt, the bank is yet to comply with this order.
“In order to stop Innoson from continuing with taking over its assets in execution of the aforesaid judgment, GTB approached the Federal High Court, Ibadan on Friday, 5th April 2019 and requested the court, through a motion, to stay execution and or for an injunction restraining Innoson from continuing with executing a judgment which the Supreme Court has affirmed when it dismissed the GTB’s appeal against the Court of Appeal’s decision affirming the High Court’s judgment and order in favour of Innoson.
“We have previously stated that in a garnishee proceedings, once an order of garnishee nisi is made, the garnishee is required by law to set the amount involved aside and will not allow the judgment debtor to withdraw from it; and if the order is made absolute, the garnishee pays the money to the judgment creditor and incurs no liability for doing that but if the order is not made absolute the garnishee returns the money to the judgment debtor”.
He said the order was made absolute since 29th July 2011 and GTB held unto the money from that time and is using it for its business and it follows that by the time the order was made absolute, it was no more the judgment debtor’s money rather that of Innoson Nigeria Ltd, who is the judgment creditor.