The Federal Government of Nigeria and Senator Ned Nwoko have announced moves to settle a multi-million-dollar promissory notes dispute linked to the much-talked-about Paris Club refund.
The legal team of the plaintiffs, comprising the Federal Government, the Attorney General of the Federation, the Minister of Finance, the Accountant General of the Federation, as well as Ned Nwoko and other defendants, confirmed the settlement moves before Justice Umar Mohammed on April 21, 2026, as exclusively gathered by Naijaonpoint.
The FG’s amended originating summons, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/869/2023 and seen by Naijaonpoint, seeks a court order invalidating promissory notes (written promises to pay) held by FSDH Merchant Bank Limited, Ned Nwoko’s agent, Riok Nigeria Limited, Panic Alert Security System, and other defendants.
As argued by the FG in its filings seen by Naijaonpoint, the value of the issued promissory notes allegedly includes $65.9 million, $732,511, $142 million, $1.2 million, $159 million, and $47.8 million.
Ned Nwoko and others are listed as defendants (for their consultancy service roles) in the case, which borders on the interpretation of several legislations on promissory notes, loans, revenue allocation, bills of exchange, and debt management.
At the court proceedings on April 21, 2026, K.C.O. Nzenmanze, SAN, representing one of the defendants, informed Justice Umar that his client had instructed that the promissory notes dispute be settled out of court.
He then asked for an adjournment to allow parties to finalize settlement talks.
FG’s counsel, Abimbola Ademola, SAN, confirmed on behalf of the plaintiffs that there are moves to settle the matter.
Another lawyer, who insisted that her client is the transferee and beneficiary of the promissory notes, maintained that the defendant was aware of the settlement moves.
After hearing from the lawyers, Justice Umar adjourned the case to June 29 for a possible report of settlement.
Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Patrick Ikwueto, recently alleged what he described as “disturbing” consultant enrichment schemes surrounding the Paris Club refund.
The allegation was contained in a letter to the Attorney General of the Federation, signed by the senior lawyer, who is acting as solicitor to GSCLBIZ Plus Consortium.
The letter came amid a rebuttal by Senator Ned Nwoko, who denied any fresh claims linked to him regarding the Paris Club refund, according to ThisDay.
The Paris Club refunds were payments for over-deductions made from the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) for external debt servicing between 1995 and 2002.
The Paris Club is an informal group of lenders formed in 1956, with its headquarters in Paris.
The group was established to coordinate the management of debts owed to its member countries by developing nations.
Nigeria reached an agreement with the club in 2005 to pay off $12 billion in exchange for debt relief.
The issue of Paris Club obligations and deductions has been a major source of disagreement between the Federal Government and state governments for many years.
In 2021, the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja stopped the Federal Government at the time from its planned deduction of $418 million in Paris Club refunds from the accounts of state and local governments.
This followed a court case instituted by the Nigeria Governors’ Forum against the Federal Government in a bid to halt the payment of the controversial sum to consultants.
Naijaonpoint previously reported that, four years ago, officials of the Federal Ministry of Finance informed state government representatives of the Federal Government’s plan to commence the deduction of $418 million from the accounts of states and local governments.
This led to a deadlock at the FAAC meeting following the states’ opposition to the move.
The Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum and former Governor of Ekiti State, Kayode Fayemi, stated that state governments opposed the Federal Government’s plan to make deductions from the federation account to pay private consultants for the Paris Club refund, as the move was projected to affect the recurrent expenditure of at least 33 states, which might struggle to pay workers’ salaries.
The Federal Government later bowed to pressure, reaching an agreement with the state governments to suspend the deduction of the $418 million from their accounts pending the determination of court cases on the matter.
