The Lagos State High Court, Tapa Commercial Division, has dismissed a ₦57.4 million debt recovery suit filed by United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc against Mr Arueyingho Gbemi Mac, ending a legal battle that began in 2013.
In suit No. LD/146/2013, Justice A. M. Ipaye ruled that UBA failed to prove that the defendant owed the claimed sum under a 2007 mortgage facility. The court instead found that Mr Mac was entitled to a credit balance of ₦7,574,592.87 after a detailed audit of the account.
UBA, represented by Mrs G. Opeyokun, had sought repayment with 22 per cent annual interest and requested authority to sell a mortgaged property in Lekki Phase 1, Lagos, citing default. The defendant, through Emmanuel Umoren, contested the claim and filed a counterclaim citing excessive charges, unlawful interest, and breaches of contractual and regulatory obligations, arguing that the bank acted prematurely before the loan’s 10-year tenor expired.
A court-commissioned auditor, approved through the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria, found that UBA imposed excessive charges exceeding ₦51.9 million, including inflated interest and unauthorised fees, contrary to Central Bank of Nigeria guidelines.
Justice Ipaye held that while the bank had contractual rights to call in the loan upon default, it breached its fiduciary duty by applying unlawful charges. “The claimant has failed to prove its entitlement to the reliefs sought,” the judge stated, adding that the right to sell the mortgaged property could not arise without a proven debt.
The court dismissed all claims by UBA and set aside a previous interlocutory judgment granted in 2014.
