INTERCONTINENTAL BANK: Court rejects ruling of London court

A FEDERAL High Court sitting in Lagos, yesterday, held that the judgment of a London Court ordering former Managing Director of defunct Intercontinental Bank, Erastus Akingbola to pay Access Bank £654 million (N212.2 billion) was not enforceable in Nigeria.

Trial judge, Justice Chukwujeku Aneke in his judgment, also dismissed an application filed to that effect by Access Bank. A Lagos High Court sitting in Igbosere had also rejected a similar application by Access Bank.

Justice Aneke explained that by denying Akingbola the right to appeal the judgment amounted to a breach of his fundamental right which no Nigerian court could do. Quoting several Supreme Court cases he stated that the right of appeal was every Nigerian’s inalienable right adding that the London court contravened this fundamental provision of the constitution.

It will be recalled that the High Court, Queens Bench in London, had on August 1, 2012, ordered Akingbola to pay Access Bank £654 million (N212.2 billion) for some alleged fraudulent practices committed when he was in charge of the defunct bank. Access Bank acquired Intercontinental Bank on January 31, 2012.

In a bid to enforce the London Court judgment in Nigeria, Access Bank approached Justice A. Oyebanji of the Lagos High Court with an ex-parte application, seeking to register the foreign judgment and the accompanying order of Justice Michael Burton, dated September 13, 2012.

Justice Oyebanji had acceded to the request of Access Bank by registering the London judgment and ordering Akingbola to pay the judgment sum. But, Akingbola, through his lawyer, asked Justice Babajide Candide-Johnson of the Lagos High Court to quash the registration of the foreign judgment for lack of jurisdiction.