By Francesca Hangeior

Justice Inyang Ekwo of the
Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has dismissed a suit instituted by Ecobank Nigeria Limited, seeking to restrain the National Security Adviser from carrying out its threat to use the law enforcement agencies to arrest and harass members of its staff on the allegations of fraudulent disbursements of N319,830,000 from the federal government’s Niger Delta Amnesty Programme.

Delivering his judgement on the
the fundamental rights suit filed by the bank against the Attorney General of the Federation, the National Security Adviser (NSA), and the Federal Government regarding the Niger Delta Amnesty Programme, Justice Ekwo held that fundamental rights applications cannot be used to shield the allegations

Dismissing the suit, Justice Ekwo held that the banker-customer relationship remains a civil transaction as long as there is no element of criminality involved.

The bank had asked the court to declare that the continuous invitations, intimidation, harassment, and threats to arrest and detain its staff by the respondents, in order to force it to pay N849,408,000—allegedly lost by the Amnesty Programme due to purported negligence—were unlawful, unconstitutional, and in breach of the applicant’s rights to operate as a corporate entity and maintain its corporate dignity.

Oladipupo, Regional Operations Head of FCT, Ecobank Nigeria Limited, testified in suit no: FHC/ABJ/CS/469/2023 that on January 19, 2023, commercial banks, including Ecobank, were summoned to a meeting by the ONSA regarding the amnesty scheme.

At the meeting, he stated that the NSA informed bank representatives that some beneficiaries of the amnesty scheme had been receiving double payments by opening multiple accounts in several banks, and that the program had been paying funds to unknown individuals.

He said that afterward, the NSA sought the banks’ support in addressing these challenges and ensuring that the leakages were blocked.

Oladipupo added that to the bank’s surprise, the NSA Permanent Secretary, Mr. Aliyu Mohammed, informed the banks that the Federal Government had purportedly lost N13 billion due to the leakages and demanded that Ecobank refund N849,408,000 within two weeks.

Oladipupo said the amnesty program’s solicitors later demanded the payment of N319,830,000 from the bank.

“Shocked by the demand and threat of arrest, the applicant requested time to audit their records and verify the claims of multiple payments in line with the instructions given by the Amnesty Programme.”

“The applicant refuted the allegations and denied liability for the said sum in its letter dated February 23, 2023. The applicant did not engage in any fraudulent activity regarding the funds paid to its customers either before or after opening the accounts,” Oladipupo submitted.

The bank stated that the amnesty program, specifically the NSA, had been continually inviting its staff to pressure the bank into making the payment.

“The Amnesty Programme specifically threatened to use the DSS and Police to arrest, harass, and intimidate the top executives of the bank to force the applicant to comply with the unlawful request for payment of N849,408,000.

“The fundamental rights of the applicant, its directors, staff, or agents to liberty, freedom of movement, and the right to own movable property, especially its standing with the Central Bank of Nigeria, are likely to be infringed by the respondents,” he said.

However, Mr. Melvin Obiakor, a Reintegration Officer in the Presidential Amnesty Office, countered the bank in a deposition on behalf of all the respondents.

Obiakor stated that under the Stipend Programme, each ex-agitator is entitled to one payment per month into their respective accounts opened and maintained with local Nigerian banks, including Ecobank, effective from 2010/2011.

He said that in September 2022, following an audit by the Presidential Amnesty Programme Office on the payment of stipends from the commencement to September 2022, irregularities and suspected fraudulent activities concerning stipend payments and operations of related accounts opened and maintained with the banks were discovered.

“Initial investigations by the Amnesty Office revealed multiple accounts linked to different beneficiaries with variations of their names. Hence, the need to inquire from the banks where these accounts were held for explanations and clarifications.

“From its internal audit of payments made to agitators, the Amnesty Office discovered that the sum of N849,408,800.00 was paid through Ecobank to eighty persons who had multiple account numbers linked to one particular BVN, contrary to existing CBN guidelines and protocols on the operation of bank accounts,” the deponent added.

The deponent argued that the bank’s application is mischievous and, if granted, would cause grave injustice and hinder the ability of the respondents and law enforcement agencies to conduct full investigations into the wrongful and illegal payments under the Amnesty Programme.

The deponent accused the bank of attempting to thwart the Amnesty Programme’s efforts in resolving issues surrounding the fraudulent payments of stipends into flagged accounts.

However, Justice Ekwo in his judgement held that where there is any criminality in the transaction between a bank and its customer, the nature of the banking relationship changes, and the parties become subject to criminal liability.

According to the judge, the fundamental rights applications cannot be used to shield allegations of fraud between a banker and its customer.

“It is my opinion that if a party intends to assert that the matter in contention is contractual in nature and that law enforcement should not be involved, that party has the obligation to substantiate the claim that the subject matter remained contractual throughout the relationship,” the judge stated.

The judge subsequently held that Ecobank failed to provide the court with sufficient grounds to support its allegation of a potential violation of its fundamental rights and that of its officers.

He declared that the respondents are entitled to investigate allegations of fraudulent disbursement of N319,830,000.00 by multiple illegal beneficiary accounts maintained and operated with the bank.

The judge added that “respondents may engage any relevant law enforcement agency to conduct investigations into the fraudulent disbursement of N319,830,000.00.”

“I therefore make an order dismissing this case on those grounds”.