A Federal High Court in Lagos has ordered 20 Commercial banks in
Nigeria to dishonour all withdrawal cheques from Mr. Sani Dangote,
younger brother to Alhaji Aliko Dangote, and his companies, Dansa
Foods Limited and Bulk Pack Services Limited.
Justice Okon Abang, who made the order on Thursday in a bench ruling,
said the order subsists till September 11, 2014 when the court would
entertain all applications in a suit brought by Union Bank Plc against
Dangote and his companies.
The judge also ordered all the banks involved to, within five days of
the interim order, file affidavits declaring the defendants statement
of accounts with them.
Union Bank had taken Dangote and his companies to court over alleged
refusal to liquidate about N5.2bn loan granted them since September,
2008.
The bank, through its lawyer, Mr. Chukwudi Enebeli from the chambers
of Mr. Kemi Pinheiro (SAN) had instituted suits seeking an order of
mareva injunction to restrain all the defendants' banks in Nigeria
from allowing them withdraw funds from their accounts pending the
determination of the suits.
The banks named are Access, CITI, Diamond, Ecobank, Enterprise,
Fidelity, Keystone, Mainstreet, Skye, Wema, Heritage, Sterling, Unity
and Zenith Banks.
Others are First Bank, First City Monument Bank, Guaranty Trust Bank,
Stanbic IBTC, Standard Chartered Bank and United Bank for Africa.
In the affidavits in support of its suits, Union Bank Plc urged the
court to urgently grant the mareva order because in a bid to evade
payment of the loan, Dangote has been making frantic efforts to
deplete the funds in the accounts of his companies, and that the
bank's investigations revealed that the defendants had started
diverting the funds to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, Canada and
Switzerland.
One Olufunmilola Ayoola, an official of the bank, who deposed to the
bank's affidavit, alleged that the failure of the defendants to
liquidate the monumental debt had negatively affected the Nigerian
economy, a development which the bank claimed necessitated the suits.
According to Ayoola, Union Bank Plc has been having difficulty in
extending credit facilities to small scale businesses which in turn
would have helped in boosting the nation's economy and salvage the
country from its present malaise of corruption and under development
crisis.
The bank stated that the funds which Dangote and his companies failed
to pay, were capable of going a long way in impacting positively on
the nation's economy.
When the matter came up for hearing on Thursday, the motion could not
be heard as counsel for the defendants informed the court that they
had filed objections challenging jurisdiction of the court to
entertain the suit.
Out of all the banks, Diamond and Zenith appeared before the court on
Thursday and explained that Dangote was equally indebted to them.
Zenith Bank specifically said Dangote was indebted to the bank to the
tune of seven million euros.
In view of the defendants' objections contesting jurisdiction, the
judge said the matter would be adjourned till September 11, 2014 to
be able to take all the applications.
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