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Court Imposes N1.8B Damages On Access Bank Over Unlawful Deductions, Fictitious Accounts
A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has awarded a damage sum N1.817,690,414. 65 billion against Access Bank Plc for unlawful deductions and opening of fictitious accounts.
Justice Ambrose Lewis-Allagoa ordered Access Bank Plc to pay the sum as damage to the plaintiffs in two separate suits numbered FHC/L/CS/1485/2015 and FHC/L/CS/1493/2015.
The plaintiffs in the suit marked FHC/L/CS/1485/2015 were: MicCom Cables And Wires Limited; Chief Tunde Ponnle; and Commic Holdings Limited, joined in the suit pursuant to the order of Court made on February 16, 2018.
While the plaintiffs in the suit marked FHC/L/CS/1493/2015 are ; Origin Energy Limited and Mr. Abiodun Ponnle.
However, Access Bank is the sole defendant in the two suits.
The bank on it’s part filed a counter-claim of the sum of N1,058,141,649.98 billion in the suit marked FHC/L/CS/1493/2015, against Origin Energy Limited, Mr. Abiodun Ponnle, Chief Tunde Ponnle, MicCom Cables & Wires Ltd and Commic Holdings Ltd. But the counter-claim was dismissed by the court.
Plaintiffs in suit marked FHC/L/CS/1485/2015, in their second further amended statement of claim dated March 8, 2024 and filed on March 12, 2024, filed by their lawyer, Tokunbo Davis, asked the court for 27 reliefs against Access Bank Plc.
Parts of the reliefs sought for include; “a declaration that the balance reflected in the 1st Plaintiff’s statement of account as at 2nd September, 2015 is the true and accurate balance on the 1st Plaintiff’s account.
“A declaration that by virtue of the 1st Plaintiff’s statement of account, as at 2nd September, 2015, the 1st Plaintiff is not indebted to the defendant in the alleged sum of N452, 994,359.45 (Four Hundred and Fifty-Two Million Nine Hundred and Ninety four Thousand Three Hundred and Fifty-Nine Naira Forty-Five Kobo Only) or any sum whatsoever.
“An order directing the defendant to immediately release unconditionally the title documents of the properties located at Plot 2018 Cotonou Street, Wuse Zone 6, Abuja, 21 Odebunmi Street, Egbeda, Lagos, 3 Ponle Street, Egbeda, Lagos, 3/5 Edun-Alaran Road, Ojokoro Agege and 1 Ramat Crescent, Ogudu GRA, Lagos, and any other documents used as a security In the credit facility constituted in the offer letter dated 18th March, 2013, to the Plaintiffs.
“A declaration that the detention/retention of the 3rd Plaintiff’s title documents to the property known as 1, Ramar Crescent, Ogudu, G.R.A, Lagos, despite the fact that the 1st Plaintiff is not in anyway indebted to the Defendant, is inconsistent with the 3rd Plaintiff’s right over the said property and is wrongful.
“Damages in the sum of N500 million, for the unlawful refusal/ failure of the defendant to release to the 3rd Plaintiff the title documents to the property at 1, Ramat Crescent, Ogudu, G.R.A Lagos, from 18th November, 2014 till date.
“A declaration that the alleged debit balance on the 1st Plaintiff’s account no: 0004842444 maintained with the defendants is an aggregate of the imputation of excessive debits, unwholesome charges, compound interest, overcharges and all other illegal and unauthorized charges and interests imputed in the 1st Plaintiff’s Account contrary to the terms of Offer Letters dated 24th May, 2006, 20th September, 2006, 6th April, 2010, 24th December, 2010, and 18th March, 2013 are illegal, null and void.
“A declaration that the unilateral variation of interest applied by the Defendant through its officials without the formal consent and approval of the 1” Plaintiff is illegal and ought to be set aside.
“A declaration that all charges inconsistent with the Offer Letters dated 24th May, 2006, 20th September, 2006, 6th April, 2010, 24th December, 2010, and 18th March, 2013 are illegal, null and void.
“A declaration that the unauthorized, illegal, excessive and unsubstantiated charges, fees, interests, or deductions levied or charged to the accounts of the 1st Plaintiff by the Defendant amount to a fundamental breach and the 1st Plaintiff is entitled to treat same as repudiatory and to rescind from the credit facilities agreement constituted in the Offer Letters dated 24th May, 2006, 20th September, 2006, 6th April, 2010, 24th December, 2010, and 18th March, 2013 are illegal, null and void.
“A declaration that the defendant is not entitled to take any action and or exercise any rights whatsoever arising from any purported right contained in the Deed of Fixed and Floating Debenture, Deed of Mortgage Debenture and/or Tripartite Legal Mortgage in respect of the properties pursuant to the Offer Letter dated 18th March, 2013 towards recovery of the alleged debt of N452, 994, 359. 45 million, or any debt allegedly owed by the Plaintiffs to it whether as primary or secondary debtors.
“A declaration that by virtue of CBN prudential guidelines, the Defendant is under an obligation to reconcile the account of the 1st Plaintiff with the 1st Plaintiff’s auditors and render full and proper account of how funds deposited into, credited to or otherwise due and accruing to the 1st Plaintiff has been managed and applied in respect of the account maintained by the 1st Plaintiff, failing which the defendant is bound by the audit conducted by the 1st Plaintiff.
“An order that the defendant should reverse, deduct or otherwise cancel all unauthorized, illegal, excessive and unsubstantiated charges, fees, interests, or deductions howsoever called which have been levied or charged to the accounts of the 1st Plaintiff’s.
“An order for the immediate refund of the sum of €317, 690, 415. 65 (Three Hundred and Seventeen Million Six Hundred and Ninety Thousand Four Hundred and Fifteen Naira Sixty-Five Kobo) representing unlawful excess and undue interests charges together with interest calculated thereon at the prevailing Central Bank of Nigeria MRR/MPR rates in tine with Section 3.3.5g of the CBN Monetary Credit Foreign Trade & Exchange Policy Circular No. 40 of January, 2014.
“Flowing from above, judgment in the sum of N317,690,415.65 million as already pleaded.”
“In the alternative to 13 and 14 above: an order for the immediate refund of the sum of N69, 614, 238.74 million, representing unlawful excess and undue interests charges together with interest calculated thereon as contained in the CBN Report.
“A declaration that the overdraft interest, commission on turnover, facility fee, management fee other fees, access online fee, balance on comm. + vat BA repayment & interest, loan repayment & interest, import charges are all illegal and excessive charges.
“An order of perpetual injunction restraining the Defendant either by itself, servants, agents or privies howsoever called from exercising any right whatsoever purportedly conferred by the Deed of Fixed and Floating Debenture, Deed of Mortgage Debenture and/or Tripartite Legal Mortgage in respect of the properties pursuant to the Offer Letter dated 18th March, 2013.
“An order of perpetual injunction restraining the Defendant either by itself, servants, agents or privies howsoever called from exercising any right whatsoever purportedly conferred under and by virtue of the Personal Guarantee of the 2nd Plaintiff pursuant to the Offer Letter dated 18th March, 2013.
“An order of injunction restraining the defendant whether by itself, officers, servants, agents and or privies from selling, disposing of or otherwise exercising any right in respect of the properties known as: Plot 2018 Cotonou Street, Wuse Zone 6, Abuja, 21 Odebunmi Street, Egbeda, Lagos, 3 Ponle Street, Egbeda, Lagos, 3/5 Edun-Alaran Road, OjokoroAgege and 1 Ramat Crescent, Ogudu GRA, Lagos.
“An order of perpetual injunction restraining the defendant, its agents or privies howsoever called from harassing, disturbing or otherwise interfering howsoever with the proper running of the commercial operations of the 1st Plaintiff.
“An order of perpetual injunction restraining the Defendant whether by itself, agents, privies or whomsoever acting upon or at the instigation or directives of the Defendant from making or attempting to make representations and/or complaints concerning the 1st and 2nd Plaintiffs account to third parties and/or imputing the financial statement of the 1st and 2nd Plaintiffs or howsoever into the Credit Risk Management System of the Central Bank of Nigeria.
“An order of perpetual injunction restraining the Defendant from howsoever causing the arrest and/or detention of any of the officers or directors of the 1st and 2nd Plaintiffs on account of any alleged indebtedness arising from the credit facilities agreement constituted in the Offer Letters dated 17 May, 2007, 18th March, 2013.
“Damages in the sum of N1 billion resulting from the reputational injury and damage to business suffered by the 1st Plaintiff and loss of access to funds which would have yielded immense profits.
“Interest on all sums due above at the interest rate of 25% per annum from March, 2013 till date of judgment and thereafter at the rate of 10% per annum until final liquidation of same.
“An order that any Judgment sum awarded against the Defendant inclusive of interest thereon shall, within 3 days of delivery of the Judgment, be paid into the 1st Plaintiff’s account below: Account Name: MicCom Cables & Wires Ltd; Bank: Keystone Bank Limited
Account Number: 1006178177.
“Solicitors Cost of this action calculated at 15% of whatsoever monetary judgment this Honourable Court makes.”
Access Bank in it’s opposition to the suit had urged the court to dismiss the suit for being unsubstantiated and frivolous.
Delivering judgment on the suit on October 16, 2024, Justice Lewis-Allagoa, after reading through all the processes filed by the parties and submissions made by their lawyers ordered: “that a Declaration is made the alleged debit balance on the 1st Plaintiff’s account no: 0004842444 maintained with the Defendants is an aggregate of the imputation of excessive debits, unwholesome charges, compound interest, overcharges and all other illegal and unauthorised charges and interests imputed in the 1st Plaintiff’s Account contrary to the terms of Offer Letters dated 24 May, 2006, 20″ September, 2006, 6” April, 2010, 24″ December, 2010, and 18” March, 2013 are illegal, null and void.
“A declaration is made that the unilateral variation of interest applied by the Defendant through its officials without the formal consent and approval of the 1st Plaintiff is illegal and ought to be set aside.
“A declaration is made that all charges inconsistent with the Offer Letters dated 24th May, 2006, 20th September, 2006, 6th April, 2010, 24th December, 2010, and 18th March, 2013 are illegal, null and void.
“A declaration is made the unauthorized, illegal, excessive and unsubstantiated charges, fees, interests, or deductions levied or charged to the accounts of the 1st Plaintiff by the Defendant amount to a fundamental breach and the 1st Plaintiff is entitled to treat same as repudiatory and to rescind from the credit facilities agreement constituted in the Offer Letters dated 24th May, 2006, 20th September, 2006, 6th Apni, 2010, 24 December, 2010, and 18th March, 2013 are illegal, null and void.
“A declaration is made that the Defendant is not entitled to take any action and or exercise any rights whatsoever arising from any purported right contained in the Deed of Fixed and Floating Debenture, Deed of Mortgage Debenture and/or Tripartite Legal Mortgage in respect of the properties pursuant to the Offer Letter dated 18th March, 2013 towards recovery of the alleged debt of N452,994,359.45 million, or any debt allegedly owed by the Plaintiffs to it whether as primary or secondary debtors.
“A declaration is made that by virtue of CBN prudential guidelines, the Defendant is under an obligation to reconcile the account of the 1st Plaintiff with the 1st Plaintiff’s auditors and render full and proper account of how funds deposited into, credited to or otherwise due and accruing to the 1st Plaintiff has been managed and applied in respect of the account maintained by the 1st Plaintiff, failing which the defendant is bound by the audit conducted by the 1st Plaintiff.
“An order is made that the Defendant should reverse, deduct or otherwise cancel all unauthorized, illegal, excessive and unsubstantiated charges, fees, interests, of deductions howsoever called which have been levied or charged to the accounts of the 1st Plaintiff’s.
“An order is granted for the immediate refund of the sum of N317, 690, 415.65 million, representing unlawful excess and undue interests charges together with interest calculated thereon at the prevailing Central Bank of Nigeria MRR/MPR rates in line with Section 3.3.5 of the CBN Monetary Credit Foreign Trade & Exchange Policy Circular No. 40 of January, 2014.
“Flowing from above, judgment in the sum of N317,690,415.65 million, as already pleaded is granted.
“A declaration is made that the overdraft interest, commission on turnover, facility fee, management fee other fees, access online fee, balance on comm. + vat BA repayment & interest, loan repayment & interest, import charges are all illegal and excessive charges.
“An order of perpetual injunction is granted restraining the Defendant either by itself, servants, agents or privies howsoever called from exercising any right whatsoever purportedly conferred by the Deed of Fixed and Floating Debenture, Deed of Mortgage Debenture and/or Tripartite Legal Mortgage in respect of the properties pursuant to the Offer Letter dated 18th March, 2013.
“An order of perpetual injunction is granted restraining the Defendant either by itself, servants, agents or privies howsoever called from exercising any right whatsoever purportedly conferred under and by virtue of the Personal Guarantee of the 2nd Plaintiff pursuant to the Offer Letter dated 18th March, 2013.
“An order of injunction is granted restraining the Defendant whether by itself, officers, servants, agents and or privies from selling, disposing of or otherwise exercising any right in respect of the properties known as: Plot 2018 Cotonou Street, Wuse Zone 6, Abuja, 21 Odebunmi Street, Egbeda, Lagos, 3 Ponle Street, Egbeda, Lagos, 3/5 Edun-Alaran Road, Ojokoro Agege and 1 Ramat Crescent, Ogudu GRA, Lagos.
“An order of perpetual injunction is granted restraining the Defendant, its agents or privies howsoever called from harassing, disturbing or otherwise interfering howsoever with the proper running of the commercial operations of the 1st Plaintiff.
“An order of perpetual injunction is granted restraining the Defendant whether by itself, agents, privies or whomsoever acting upon or at the instigation or directives of the Defendant from making or attempting to make representations and/or complaints concerning the 1st and 2nd Plaintiffs account to third parties and/or imputing the financial statement of the 1st and 2nd Plaintiffs or howsoever into the Credit Risk Management System of the Central Bank of Nigeria.
“An order of perpetual injunction is granted restraining the Defendant from howsoever causing the arrest and/or detention of any of the officers or directors of the 1st and 2nd Plaintiffs on account of any alleged indebtedness arising from the credit facilities agreement constituted in the Offer Letters dated 17 May, 2007, 18th March, 2013.
“Damages in the sum of N1 billion, resulting from the reputational injury and damage to business suffered by the 1st Plaintiff and loss of access to funds which would have yielded immense profits is hereby granted.
“Interest on all sums due above at the interest rate of 25% per annum from March, 2013 till date of judgment and thereafter at the rate of 10% per annum until final liquidation of same is hereby granted.”
“An order that any Judgment sum awarded against the Defendant inclusive of interest thereon shall, within 3 days of delivery of the Judgment, be paid into the 1st Plaintiff’s account below: Account Name: MicCom Cables & Wires Ltd. Bank: Keystone Bank Limited. Account Number: 1006178177.
“Solicitors Cost of this action calculated at 15% of whatsoever monetary judgment this Honourable Court makes is hereby granted.”
In the same vein, Justice Lewis-Allagoa also made the following orders in the suit marked FHC/L/CS/1493/2015; “that a Declaration is made that the 1st Plaintiff is not indebted to the Defendant in the alleged sum of N1,058,141,649.98 billion andor any sum whatsoever.
“That a declaration is made that having not met the conditions precedent for a drawdown on the facility in the offer letter dated 20th August, 2014, the defendant has no right to open, operate, generate or debit an account on behalf of the Plaintiff.
“That a declaration that the fictitious account of the 1st Plaintiff opened and operated by the defendant is fraudulent and illegal.
“That a declaration is made that the unauthorized and illegal account opened by the Defendant on behalf of the 1st Plaintiff amounts to a fundamental breach and the 1st Plaintiff its entitled to treat same as repudiatory and to rescind from the credit facility agreement constituted in the Offer Letter dated 20th August, 2014.
That a declaration is made that the action of the defendant in promptly collapsing the unreconciled purported indebtedness of the 1st Plaintiff into the fictitious and illegal account of the 2nd Plaintiff was accentuated by the desire for illicit profit and to avoid provision for it in its audited account.
“That an order directing the immediate closure of the illegal and fictitious account of the 1st Plaintiff opened and operated by the Defendant.
“That an order directing the defendant to forthwith unconditionally release to the Plaintiffs, all title documents of the properties used to secure the purported facility and or An Order discharging all security documents used as collateral for the purported facility.
“That an order of perpetual injunction is granted restraining the Defendant either by itself, servants, agents or privies howsoever purportedly conferred under and by virtue of the Personal Guarantee of the 2nd Plaintiff pursuant to the Offer Letter dated 20th August, 2014.
“That an order of perpetual injunction is granted restraining the Defendant its agents or privies howsoever called from harassing, disturbing or otherwise interfering howsoever with the proper running at the commercial operations of the 1st Plaintiff.
“That an order of perpetual injunction is granted restraining the Defendant whether by itself, agents, privies or whomsoever acting upon or at the instigation or directives of the Defendant from making or attempting to make representations and/or complaints concerning the 1st Plaintiff account to third parties and/or imputing the financial statement of the 1st Plaintiff or howsoever into the Credit Risk Management System of the Central Bank of Nigeria.
“That an order of perpetual Injunction is granted restraining the defendant from howsoever causing the arrest and/or detention of any of the officers or directors of the 1st Plaintiff on account of any alleged indebtedness arising from the credit facility constituted in the Offer Letter dated 20th August, 2014. And General damages in the sum N500 million.”
Justice Lewis-Allagoa also ordered that the judgment sum awarded against the defendant (Access Bank), inclusive of interest thereon shall, within 3 days of delivery of the judgment, be paid into the 1st Plaintiff’s account details; Account Name: Origin Limited. Bank; Keystone Bank Limited. Account Number: 1006707643.”
The Anambra State Government has slammed a one-month sanction on Blossom Fount School, Awka, for monetising student leadership by charging pupils N5,000 to contest for the position of head prefect.
The sanction, announced on Saturday by the state Commissioner for Education, Prof. Ngozi Chuma-Udeh follows reports that the school imposed the controversial fee on pupils in its primary section vying for leadership roles.
Describing the practice as “despicable,” Chuma-Udeh expressed outrage at what she called an attempt to commercialise student leadership and exploit the ambitions of young children.
She said, “Investigation is going on to know how the school is being run. It is an act of selling the psyche of the children to the highest bidder from the cradle, and it is not acceptable to this government.”
“The act of commercialising student leadership and exploiting children’s ambitions for financial gain is despicable. It amounts to selling the psyche of the children to the highest bidder from the cradle, and it is strongly condemned,” she added.
Chuma-Udeh stressed that Governor Chukwuma Soludo’s administration remains committed to upholding integrity and fairness within the education system, stating that such practices will not be tolerated.
According to reliable sources, the ministry’s investigation is still ongoing, and further sanctions may be imposed depending on the outcome. The goal, officials say, is to ensure accountability and deter similar actions in schools across the state.
The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission has continued its probe into the alleged discrepancies in the disbursement of funds under the Federal Government’s student loan scheme, Sunday PUNCH has learnt.
This comes amid repeated denials from the Nigerian Education Loan Fund that no money was missing in the student loan scheme.
Sources within the anti-graft agency told our correspondent that the investigation began after NELFUND sent a request, asking the agency to track the disbursed funds, after the National Orientation Agency raised the alarm that some schools were cheating the students on the loans disbursed to them.
One of the sources, an official of the agency who spoke anonymously because of the sensitivity of the matter, however, said no one had been indicted yet.
“We have just started the investigation. It was NELFUND that brought the matter to us to help them track where the money might have gone. We’ve not indicted anyone, but the allegation is still there,” the official said.
According to the source, preliminary findings revealed that N100bn was earmarked for the programme, but N28.8bn was disbursed to students.
Another source said further investigation had, however, shown that N203.8bn was received, out of which N44bn was disbursed.
“So far, we have not indicted anybody. They have disbursed N44bn. But when we get the recipients, we will find out if they did receive that amount. If they received the said amount, we will now find out where the discrepancy came from,” the senior official said.
The source urged Nigerians to remain patient and avoid insinuations, adding that the agency would disclose its findings once the investigation was complete.
“Nigerians should be patient with us and let us do our work. There is no need for insinuations. We are getting to the root of this. If the amount of N44bn has been received by the recipients, then there won’t be any problem. And if there are discrepancies, we will unearth them and disclose them to Nigerians,” the source said.
“If there are discrepancies, we will unearth them,” another source added.
NELFUND, on its part, has continued to dismiss the allegations of misappropriation as “entirely false and deeply damaging.”
In a statement issued on May 1, the Fund’s Director of Strategic Communications, Mrs. Oseyemi Oluwatuyi, stated that “the integrity of an institution established to deliver financial hope to millions of Nigerians must not be undermined by unverified claims.”
Managing Director of the Fund, Akintunde Sawyerr, also maintained this position during an appearance on Channels Television on May 4.
He confirmed that the Fund had actually received about N203bn, broken down as N10bn from the Ministry of Finance, N50bn from the EFCC’s proceeds of crime, and N143bn from TETFund.
He said, “The Nigerian Education Loan Fund has received about N203bn. I’ll break it down for you: N10bn from the Office of the Minister of Finance through the Office of the Accountant General, N50bn from the EFCC’s proceeds of crime, and N143bn from TETFund. So you can see already that the actual amount received is in excess of what’s even been said to have been received.
“Out of that, N54bn has been disbursed to date, while N30bn and N24bn had gone to institutions and for upkeep respectively. So there’s a pocket money side to this. That’s N54bn disbursed already in the space of about 11 and a half months. It’s in the Central Bank of Nigeria.”
Sawyerr reiterated this stance when he appeared before the House of Representatives Committee on Students Loan, Scholarship, and Higher Education on May 8, firmly stating that no funds were missing.
The controversy first gained traction in April following a National Orientation Agency investigation, which uncovered claims that some tertiary institutions, in collaboration with banks, were withholding student loan disbursements.
Efforts to reach ICPC’s spokesperson, Demola Bakare, proved abortive.
No fewer than 15 pipeline vandals across the Niger Delta region have been convicted, while 100 others are being prosecuted.
The National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, disclosed this on Friday at a town hall meeting organised by Petroleum Infrastructure Nigeria Limited, a pipeline surveillance contractor, in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.
Ribadu, who was represented by his Special Assistant on Energy, Security and Finance, Amakiri Harry-Young, said his office was working assiduously to protect crude oil infrastructure in the Niger Delta region.
He said those convicted were being held at the Port Harcourt Custodial Centre.
The NSA revealed that a special committee comprising investigative and prosecuting teams had been working round the clock to ensure that pipeline vandals and other offenders face justice.
According to him, the move followed concerns raised during a previous meeting about the arrest and quick release of oil vandals, which often led to further insecurity in the affected communities.
“The President is serious about the 2.5 million barrels, and we are doing everything necessary to reach that goal,” he said.
He added that success would depend on the collective efforts of all stakeholders involved, as the Federal Government was taking strong action against pipeline vandals who threatened national assets and local communities.
In his opening address, the PINL Consultant on Community Relations, Dr Akpos Mezeh, said the firm had recorded major successes in safeguarding the Trans-Niger Pipeline through close collaboration with host communities, security agencies, and other key stakeholders.
Mezeh also stated that PINL had helped reduce crude oil theft and pipeline vandalism to near-zero infractions on the pipeline by investing in community needs, resolving disputes, and restoring the environment.
He pointed out that PINL had also improved crude oil production and restored greater investor confidence, thereby contributing to an increase in national revenue.
The President of the Ijaw National Congress, Prof Benjamin Okaba, stressed that Ijaw communities had always supported Nigeria’s unity and economic stability and also taken the lead in the management of pipelines through companies like PINL.
Okaba called on communities to fully support PINL’s operations, stressing that any success recorded in protecting pipelines was also a credit to the Ijaw people.
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