Court grants stay of execution order on current $2,000 CERPAC fees

The Federal High Court, Lagos has granted a Stay of Execution on the judgement delivered by Justice Rilwanu Aikawa nullifying the collection, remittance and hike of the Combined Expatriate and Residence Permit Aliens Card (CERPAC) fees from $1,000 to $2,000 in 2018.

In November 20, 2019, Justice Aikawa of the Federal High Court, Lagos in his judgement had declared as unconstitutional, the contract between the Ministry of Interior, the Nigeria Immigration Service and Continental Transfert Technique Limited for the collection of the CERPAC fees, in a suit brought by Mr Femi Falana, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN).

The Federal Government through the Minister of Interior, the Comptroller-General of Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) and CONTEC jointly filed an appeal against the judgement in the Suit No: FHC/L/CS/289/2019, in which the Federal High Court granted a stay of execution in their favour.

Dr Adewole Adebayo, in the appeal, raised 12 grounds upon which he asked the Court to set aside the judgement of the Federal High Court delivered by Justice Aikawa which declared as unconstitutional the contract between the Ministry and CONTEC for the collection of the CERPAC fees.

While granting the Stay of Execution of the judgement, a certified true copy dated March 3 and signed by the Court Registrar, J. S. Ogedengbe and the Principal Executive Officer of the Federal High Court, Mrs O. Y. Thomas, sighted by Nigerian Tribune, the court upheld the appeal filed by the third respondent’s lawyer, Dr Adewole Adebayo and Co. House of Law in Abuja, stated thus in the main upheld the CERPAC fees hike of $2,000 payable annually by expatriates resident in Nigeria.

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The order on the Motion of Notice said: “Upon reading the affidavit in support and written address dated and filed on the 22 of November 2019 in the Federal High Court Registry, deposed to by Omolara Sodeinde and a legal practitioner of Adewole Adebayo and Co. House of Law in Abuja, Federal Capital Territory.”

Upon hearing the appeal, the Court stated: “That an order is granted staying the execution of the judgment delivered by this Court on November 20, 2019, pending the respective appeals filed by the 3rd Defendant/Applicant by the said judgement of the Hon. Court of Appeal,” the ruling read in part.

Adebayo, Counsel to the firm affirmed that: “It is a well-known fact that the CERPAC PPP contract has gone through the Christopher Kolade Panel of 2000 which cancelled many contracts signed under the last Federal Military Government but approved and recommended the CERPAC agreement. The contract went before the Federal Executive Council and got approvals.”

He added that since its implementation began, the CERPAC Contract has survived dozens of Senate and House of Representatives hearing, all re-validating the CERPAC agreement.

With the stay of execution granted, the Increase in CERPAC Fees subsists pending the final determination of the appeals.