As temper continues to rise over the contentious issue between Ecobank Nigeria Limited and Honeywell Group over an alleged N5 billion debt, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Mr. Kunle Ogunba, has dismissed the position of the Bankers Committee on the issue, saying its ruling which absolved Honeywell of further debt obligation to the bank is ineffective.
In an apparent response to a last week’s report, which quoted a former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Lamido Sanusi Lamido, as saying that the Bankers’ Committee ruling had resolved the issue, Ogunba, who is the counsel to Ecobank, said it was preposterous for anyone to contemplate that a decision of a Banker’s Committee is superior to a final decision of the Supreme Court.
The senior lawyer argued that the Banker’s Committee is not a court, hence it lacks the power to adjudicate over the matter.
“Is the Banker’s Committee a court? Even at that, why did Honeywell file an action in court after the so-called decision of the banker’s court? If it had won in its eight years sojourn in all tiers of our courts, would it still seek refuge in the Banker’s Committee?” the eminent lawyer queried.
He further argued that Sanusi had a vested interest in the dispute, having worked as the chief executive of First Bank during a period when Oba Otudeko held forth as chairman of the bank.
He said: “I am of the considered opinion that the views of His Royal Highness Emir Sanusi Lamido Sanusi circulated in the press must have been quoted out of context or outrightly misquoted since it is an intervention he ought not to have ventured into.
“First, his career trajectory which peaked as a Managing Director with Otudeko in the chair of First Bank from which vantage position he was appointed a CBN governor qualifies him as an interested/biased intervener!
“Secondly, even though, he might have a law degree, he is not a practising lawyer to my knowledge and in that stead, one cannot adequately contemplate an argument of a decision of a Banker’s Committee, in the wake of a final decision of the Supreme Court, the highest court in the land when it is considered that the Honeywell Group was the one who provoked the legal tussle, which they lost by going to court first,” he explained.
Sanusi had insisted that the Bankers’ Committee, acting as a consensus-based body, has the authority to make binding decisions for banks.
He argued that the dispute between Ecobank Nigeria and Honeywell Group over the alleged N5 billion debt seems to have been resolved as early as 2015, following the declaration by the Bankers’ Committee.
According to a report from the committee’s Ethics and Professionalism sub-committee, the agreement for Honeywell to pay Ecobank N3.5 billion as a full and final settlement was deemed valid and should be honoured.
The matter came up when lawyers to Ecobank wrote a letter to FBN Holdings Plc not to accept the recent acquisition of shares by Honeywell Group Limited because of the latter’s alleged indebtedness to Ecobank.
And in response to a recent letter from Ecobank Nigeria, lawyers representing Oba Otudeko clarified that the claims made about decisions from the Supreme Court in case SC/CV/210/2021 on January 27, 2023, affirming the indebtedness of their client or Honeywell Group Plc were false.
They further clarified that the specific amount of N13,507,052,417.99 mentioned in Ecobank’s letter was not part of any court decision or judgment in Nigeria or elsewhere.
The lawyers concluded that no court order has awarded such a sum as a debt owed by their clients, or any of the Honeywell companies, in favour of Ecobank.
Festus Akanbi
Follow us on:
Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour has condemned the commercialisation of GMO seeds, warning of threats to Nigeria’s food…
Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour has condemned the commercialisation of GMO seeds, warning of threats to Nigeria’s food…
Oleksandr Usyk has secured victory over Tyson Fury in Riyadh, successfully defending his heavyweight championship…
Albania plans a one-year TikTok ban from January after a schoolboy’s death sparks concerns over…
A suspect accused of killing five people by driving into a crowded Christmas market in…
A US Navy F/A-18 Hornet was mistakenly shot down over the Red Sea by the…
View Comments
E-AUCTIONO7O 4540 6674 }CAR FEATURES AND PRICES BELOW
GOLF , 2, 3,4 ,.300,000 to 500,000
Toyota Camry Big==#550, 000Daddy==N750,000.
Toyota Camry Tiny-Light==
N500,000.
Toyota Avenza ==N1.3. To N3. million
Toyota Hilux==950,000 to N 2.5 million
Toyota Avensis==N650,000.
Toyota Camry Muscle==N 900,000. & Spider==N950,000.
Avalon==N670,000.
Rav4 SUV==800,000 to N1.million
Toyota Sienna==N850,000.
Toyota 4Runner==850,000 to N1.3million
Tundra==950,000 to N3.8. Million
picnic==N650,000.
Toyota Highlander==850,000 to
N3. 5m
Corolla==N500,000.
Prado==N1.m To 1.7 million
Toyota LandCruisser==N850,000. to 2mill
Toyota Yaris==N650.000.
Toyota Matrix==N700,000.
Toyota Haice Bus==N 950,000 to 1.2mill
MDX ==N1.5
TIPPER head 6m
M
ZDX==N1.7
DYNA TRUCK 900,000
Honda Pilot==N950,000
Crosstour 850,000
CR-V 500,000
Benz ML350 900,000
Accord 500,000
EOD 550,000
Rx300==N800,000. To N1.1 Million
GX470===2M
Benz ===900,000 to 3million
Rx330==N950,000 To N1.8 Million
Tacoma ===950,000 to 3mill
Benz C-Class ===950,000 to 3m
GLK ==1.5m to 3mill
IS250==900,000 to 2milli
Rx350==N900,000 To N2.3 Million
TUNDRA ===950,000 to 2m
Gx470 ===1,300,000. to 3m
IS350 950,000 to 3mill
ES350 ==950,000 to 2mill
O7O 4540 6674 }
Rx470==N2.m AII070_4540_6674