The Court of Appeal in Abuja has nullified a ₦579 billion judgment awarded in favour of Kasmal International Services against the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) over stamp duty collections between 2015 and 2020.

Delivering the majority decision on Wednesday, Justice Adebukola Banjoko ruled that Kasmal had no legal foundation to act on behalf of the Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) to collect stamp duties. She held that since NIPOST lacked statutory powers to collect stamp duties, it could not legally appoint Kasmal to do so.

“You cannot give what you don’t have,” Justice Banjoko stated, adding that the Federal High Court had erred in recognising Kasmal’s claim to commission based on a void agreement.

The Court concluded that the suit, which led to the original ruling delivered on October 11, 2024 by Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court, was fundamentally flawed. Justice Oyebola Oyewumi agreed with the lead judgment, while Justice Okon Abang dissented.

Justice Abang rejected the majority’s view, arguing that the contract between NIPOST and Kasmal had been ratified by previous payments made to the firm. He insisted that the CBN and AGF, having paid ₦10.3 billion to Kasmal, could not now withhold further payment without violating principles of fairness.

“The doctrine of unjust enrichment frowns at a party, who uses the law to retain the benefit conferred by another without offering compensation,” he said.

Justice Ekwo, in the 2024 Federal High Court ruling, had awarded Kasmal ₦579,130,698,440 plus 10 per cent interest per annum, affirming that the company was entitled to 15 per cent of the total stamp duty remitted by deposit money banks during the five-year period in question.

Kasmal, a company promoted by the late Senator Buruji Kashamu, had claimed that NIPOST appointed it to assist in the collection of ₦50 on all bank receipts for transactions of ₦1,000 and above.

The company argued that its agreed commission was ₦7.50 per ₦50 collected and prayed the court to compel the CBN and AGF to pay the balance allegedly owed.

The CBN and AGF appealed the judgment, maintaining that NIPOST had no legal authority over stamp duty and that any agreement reached with Kasmal was invalid from the outset.

With the new ruling, the Court of Appeal has upheld the position that the contractual basis for Kasmal’s claims was legally untenable, effectively relieving the CBN and AGF from the obligation to make further payments to the firm.