The freezing order was placed on the account domiciled at Access Bank following the alleged refusal of the state government to honour a debt of N333 million.

Justice Inyang Eden Ekwo of the Federal High Court, Abuja has ordered the unfreezing of the salary account of the Benue State Government on Friday. 

This will be a big relief for civil servants in the state expecting their salaries. 

The freezing order was placed on the account domiciled at Access Bank following the alleged refusal of the state government to honour a debt of N333 million. 

Benue government through its counsel, Mr Terkura Pepe (SAN) complained that the order had incapacitated the state from meeting its obligations to workers in the public service. 

The senior lawyer pleaded with Justice Ekwo to relax the freezing order on the salary account to enable government pay its civil servants. 

He said the Benue State Government has been completely shut down by the interim order issued by the court. In a ruling on Friday, Justice Ekwo said he was mindful of the plights of the workers and inclined to unfreeze the account to bring respite to the innocent workers. 

The judge subsequently ordered Access Bank to allow transactions in the salary account and that the order shall last for 14 days only. 

Justice Ekwo also ordered the state government to explore an out-of-court settlement to resolve the N333 million indebtedness. 

He fixed November 22 for parties to bring their report of settlement to the court for ratification.

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