Akingbola challenges dismissal of suit against planned sale of Intercontinental Bank
The immediate past Managing Director of the Intercontinental Bank Plc, Erastus Akingbola, on Tuesday challenged the dismissal of his suit against the planned sale of Intercontinental Bank to Access Bank.
A Federal High Court (FHC) in Lagos dismissed the suit.
Akingbola, who filed an appeal before the Court of Appeal, Lagos Division, also filed an application seeking to stop the Central Bank of Nigeria and its governor from liquidating or revoking the operational licence of Intercontinental Bank.
Akingbola filed the appeal along with a former Executive Director of Intercontinental Bank, Mr Bayo Dada.
They want the appellate court to restrain the CBN from withdrawing Intercontinental bank’s inter-bank guaranty pending the determination of the appeal.
They also seek an order setting aside the FHC’s judgment.
Akingbola and Dada equally seek an order overruling decisions of the CBN on Intercontinental Bank from Aug. 14, 2009.
They also seek an order overruling all decisions of CBN appointees on the board of Intercontinental Bank from the same date, except those that concern the day-to-day business operations of the bank.
Justice Okechuwku Okeke of the FHC had dismissed the suit filed by Akingbola and Dada.
The suit had challenged a memorandum of Understanding for business combination signed by Intercontinental Bank and Access Bank.
Akingbola and Dada contended that the CBN was wrong to have masterminded the signing of the said MoU without recourse to them as shareholders and former directors of Intercontinental Bank.
Dada had specifically urged the court to set aside a letter issued by the CBN, removing him from the board of Intercontinental Bank.
The lower court ruled that the suit was an abuse of court processes on the grounds that the same subject matter was already filed before the FHC.
The court also held that the suit was belated as some of the actions being challenged were done in August, 2009 when the plaintiffs were removed as the bank’s chiefs.
On Dada’s removal from the board of Intercontinental Bank, Okeke held that the letter upon which he was removed was not tendered as an exhibit in support of the suit.
He ruled that the error was fatal to the case.
In their notice of appeal, Akingbola and Dada stated that Okeke made fundamental errors in his judgment by going into issues which were not before him.
Their counsel, Onyebuchi Aniakor, argued that the judge erred in law when he adjudged the suit as an abuse of court process merely on an assertion contained in a preliminary objection by the defendants rather than verified averments.
He added that Okeke erred by concluding that the letter directing Dada’s removal was not tendered before the court.
The immediate past Managing Director of the Intercontinental Bank Plc, Erastus Akingbola, on Tuesday challenged the dismissal of his suit against the planned sale of Intercontinental Bank to Access Bank.
A Federal High Court (FHC) in Lagos dismissed the suit.
Akingbola, who filed an appeal before the Court of Appeal, Lagos Division, also filed an application seeking to stop the Central Bank of Nigeria and its governor from liquidating or revoking the operational licence of Intercontinental Bank.
Akingbola filed the appeal along with a former Executive Director of Intercontinental Bank, Mr Bayo Dada.
They want the appellate court to restrain the CBN from withdrawing Intercontinental bank’s inter-bank guaranty pending the determination of the appeal.
They also seek an order setting aside the FHC’s judgment.
Akingbola and Dada equally seek an order overruling decisions of the CBN on Intercontinental Bank from Aug. 14, 2009.
They also seek an order overruling all decisions of CBN appointees on the board of Intercontinental Bank from the same date, except those that concern the day-to-day business operations of the bank.
Justice Okechuwku Okeke of the FHC had dismissed the suit filed by Akingbola and Dada.
The suit had challenged a memorandum of Understanding for business combination signed by Intercontinental Bank and Access Bank.
Akingbola and Dada contended that the CBN was wrong to have masterminded the signing of the said MoU without recourse to them as shareholders and former directors of Intercontinental Bank.
Dada had specifically urged the court to set aside a letter issued by the CBN, removing him from the board of Intercontinental Bank.
The lower court ruled that the suit was an abuse of court processes on the grounds that the same subject matter was already filed before the FHC.
The court also held that the suit was belated as some of the actions being challenged were done in August, 2009 when the plaintiffs were removed as the bank’s chiefs.
On Dada’s removal from the board of Intercontinental Bank, Okeke held that the letter upon which he was removed was not tendered as an exhibit in support of the suit.
He ruled that the error was fatal to the case.
In their notice of appeal, Akingbola and Dada stated that Okeke made fundamental errors in his judgment by going into issues which were not before him.
Their counsel, Onyebuchi Aniakor, argued that the judge erred in law when he adjudged the suit as an abuse of court process merely on an assertion contained in a preliminary objection by the defendants rather than verified averments.
He added that Okeke erred by concluding that the letter directing Dada’s removal was not tendered before the court.
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