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Sanusi in another trouble over sale of Intercontinental Bank

Published

11 years ago

March 26, 2014

High Court sitting in Abuja has ordered him to appear before it
in a N10 billion suit filed by some aggrieved shareholders of
defunct Intercontinental Bank of Nigeria.
Ruling on an ex-parte application filed by Chris Uche on
behalf of one Abdullahi Sani and two others, Justice
Abdulramat Mohammed ordered the service of the originating
summons on any adult in the office of the governor of the
Central Bank of Nigeria on the notice board of the bank.
The plaintiffs, in their originating summons, supported by a
seven-paragraph affidavit wanted the court to determine
whether the suspended CBN governor did not act fraudulently
by deliberately strangulating the banking operations of
Intercontinental Bank to the detriment of the plaintiffs as
shareholders.
Also joined in the suit are Central Bank of Nigeria and
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as 2nd and 3rd
defendants respectively.
The plaintiffs, Abdullahi Sani, Adaeze Onwuegbusi and
Chijioke Ezeipke, through their counsel, Chris Uche, were
demanding N10 billion as special and general damages against
Sanusi for the alleged breaches culminating in the wrongful
take over of Intercontinental Bank Plc by Access Bank.
They also wanted the court to order CBN to immediately
recover N25.1 billion together with accrued interests still being
owed by the trio of Aig-Aigboje Imokhuede, Herbert Wigwe
and Senator Bukola Saraki.
When the matter came up yesterday, the plaintiffs’ counsel,
Uche, prayed the court for leave to serve Sanusi through a
substituted means on grounds that his present place of abode
after his suspension was not known.
Uche further urged the court to serve the application on Sanusi
through his last office address at the CBN and that the
application should be pasted on the notice board or be given to
an adult in the bank.
In his ruling, the trial judge, Justice A. R. Mohammed,
granted the plaintiffs’ prayer and ordered that the court process
be served on Sanusi through his last office address at the
CBN. He later adjourned till May 14 for hearing.
In their originating summons, the plaintiffs were praying for an
order of the court that the take-over of Intercontinental Bank
by Access Bank on the scheme, direction and instruction of
Sanusi without lawful justification whatsoever was null and
void.
The plaintiffs also wanted the court to mandate SEC as the
official and apex regulator of the Nigerian capital market
acting under her power pursuant to Section 13 of the
Investments and Securities Act 2007 to conduct detailed public
investigation into the circumstances relating to and connected
with the sales of the shares, assets and securities of
Intercontinental Bank to Access Bank.