Banking
Firm Drags UBA to Court over Illegal Charges, Seeks N3.5b
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
A company named Citygate Global Investment Limited has taken United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc to court over what it called ‘illegal deductions’ from its account with the bank.
In a suit, FHC/L/CS/407/2017, filed before Justice Oluremi Oguntoyinbo of a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos, the plaintiff urged the court to mandate UBA to pay N3.45 billion to it for the illegal and excess charges, general damages, and litigation cost.
Citygate Global Investment Limited also wants the judge to give an order compelling the bank to publish an apology in five national newspapers for the said alleged excessive and illegal charges.
It further want the judge to grant an order mandating UBA to pay 21 percent interest on the money sought, from the date of filing the suit till judgement and at the rate of six percent from the date of judgement till final liquidation.
According to an affidavit in support of the originating motion deposed to by its legal officer, Ms Busola Oluwole, the company argued that its Chief Executive Officer, Mr Segun Durojaye, narrated to her on March 10, 2017, that a representative of UBA had approached and introduced to him a product called U-Gold Savings Account with an explanation that its features included minimum opening and operating balance of N10,000; Zero C.O.T.; Third party withdrawal; unlimited number of withdrawal; Internet and mobile banking; debit card issuance and SMS and E-mail alerts.
Ms Oluwole further contended that not too long after opening the said account, UBA began misappropriating the applicant’s funds, converting same and plundering the said account with different COT and other charges which UBA had warranted that the account would not be exposed.
While adding that UBA’s misrepresentation, warranties and conditions of contract which the applicant had relied upon, the deponent maintained that it altered the company’s situation and eventually made it to suffer economic losses.
Ms Oluwole further argued that UBA reneged on its warranty and debited the sum of N903,313.
According to the deponent, “UBA unwantedly breached the terms of the contract as well as of those customer-banker relationship existing between parties.
“UBA plundered and subjected the applicant’s funds to wanton debit between October 19, 2011, and March 4, 2015.
“Upon discovery of the said discrepancies, the applicant engaged UBA through its branch and head office to desist from unauthorized and illegal deduction and the bank refused.
“The applicant further engaged the services of a forensic accountant at its own cost to conduct an audit of the account which revealed the said distortion in its accounting operations.
“We were surprised upon receiving a regular, almost automated reply to the correspondence forwarded to UBA, where it stated that Investigation would be conducted on the account, but no reversal was done, and no other report of investigation was received, while UBA continued to withhold the said applicant’s funds.
“Upon filing a suit against UBA at a Magistrate Court which was later struck out for want of jurisdiction, the bank admitted it’s negligence, conversation and breach, and made refund of some funds Illegally debited outside of the two weeks window prescribed by the provision of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) guide to bank charges, without the statutorily prescribed letter of apology to the applicant.
“UBA converted the applicant’s funds in total breach of banker-customer relationship and breach of fiduciary good faith entrusted in the bank.
“The applicant has suffered economic losses in general and specific damages which require recompense.
The deponent, therefore, urged the court to interpret the various documents and policies in favour of the applicant, and award the statutory damages for the applicant against UBA.
But the financial institution in its counter affidavit deposed to by its legal officer, Mr Gabriel Omu, stated that the bank is not in a position to know if the applicant is registered with the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) or engaged in other activities.
The UBA’s legal officer stated that the bank sometimes in October 2011, introduced to the applicant a new product called ‘U Gold Savings Account’, which has the semblance of a current account, but with Zero COT, and such other features.
Mr Omu said UBA did not represent to the applicant that the other features of the account would not attract usual Bank charges.
He said the bank charges, which the applicant is contesting are for Electronic Fund Transfers, to wit; IRO, NBBS charges; debit card fees; SMS and E-mail alerts from the inception of the account in October 19, 2011 up till March 16, 2015.
He also said the applicant made a total NIP transfers in the total sum of N371,577,000, of which he was charged of N1,130,106. 05; that made up of IRO-NIBBS charges of N29, 279. 25; Bank fess of N1, 048, 396; and Value Added Tax (VAT) of N52, 430. 80.
According to the lawyer, UBA did not make any admission of negligence, conversation or misappropriation of the applicant’s funds at the Magistrate Court, Lagos.
Mr Omu said the action marked MCL/314/16, instituted by the applicant against UBA was struck out for want of jurisdiction in June 2016, while the bank had paid into the applicant’s account a total sum of N1.100,826.08, being VAT on the bank charges; and IRO-NBBS charges on May 31, 2016.
He urged the court to dismiss the applicant’s suit against UBA with substantial cost.
The matter has been adjourned until September 25, 2017.
Source: Premium Times
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The six edition of the Hackaholics of Wema Bank Plc has produced 20 top finalists shared equally between two streams, Ideathon and Hackathon.
The Hackathon finalists are Rapid DEV, Secure IT, Neurafeed, Trust Lock Babcock, Pulse Track, IlluminiTrust, Trust Lock FUTA, Fix Fraud AI, KASH Flow and VOC AI.
The Ideathon finalists include PLOY, Fertitude, VarsityScape, Mama ALERT, StockMed, Chao, All Arbitrate, FarmSlate, Sane AI and Cycle X.
They emerged after a two-day pre-pitch held on December 16 and 17, 2025, for the grand finale slated for Friday, December 19, 2025.
They grand finale of Hackaholics 6.0 will convene the top players in Africa’s tech and innovation ecosystem, creating an avenue for these finalists to not only put their creativity to the ultimate test but also give their solutions visibility to potential investors for additional funding opportunities beyond the prizes to be won.
The prizes to be won for the Ideathon include N25 million for the winner, N20 million for the first runner-up, N15 million for the second runner-up and N5 million each for two women-led teams.
In the Hackathon category, the first to fourth-place winners will receive N20 million, N15 million, N10 million and N5 million, respectively.
The pre-pitch saw the top 43 contenders battle in a game of innovation and problem solving, presenting compelling pitches for a chance to make it to top 10 in their respective streams.
After a rigorous stretch of pitches and presentations, the top 20 emerged, securing their spot in the grand finale of Hackaholics 6.0.
“Hackaholics started off as a hackathon and morphed into an ideation. For Hackaholics 6.0, the sixth edition, we decided to give both the builders of new solutions and the refiners of existing ones, an opportunity to make meaningful impact.
“For us at Wema Bank, we understand that innovation isn’t just building from scratch. Sometimes, it’s looking at what exists and developing new ways to optimise that and create more efficiency. This is the idea behind our two-stream Ideathon-Hackathon structure.
“Every year, Hackaholics shows us just how eager and motivated Nigerian youth are when it comes to exploring creativity and innovation, and we are honoured to be the institution that provides them with the platform and resources to put this drive to good use.
“We toured seven cities, indulged 1,460 participants and discovered hundreds of remarkable ideas; some of which needed some refining and some of which deserved to move to the next stage.
“For those who needed to go back to the drawing board, we provided useful guidance and for the top contenders, we were able to shortlist to the top 43, who proceeded to the pre-pitch. To every participant, Wema Bank is proud of you. This is just the beginning,” the chief executive of Wema Bank, Mr Moruf Oseni, said.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) says it will enforce penalties against designated banks that delay the remittance of customs revenue, in a move aimed at strengthening transparency and safeguarding government earnings.
This was disclosed in a statement on the NCS official account on X, formerly known as Twitter and signed by its spokesman, Mr Abdullahi Maiwada, who said the delays undermine the efficiency, transparency, and integrity of government revenue administration.
“The Nigeria Customs Service has noted instances of delayed remittance of customs revenue by some designated banks following reconciliation of collections processed through the B’odogwu platform,” the statement read.
“Such delays constitute a breach of remittance obligations and negatively impact the efficiency, transparency, and integrity of government revenue administration.
“In line with the provisions of the Service Level Agreement executed between the Nigeria Customs Service and designated banks, the Service hereby notifies stakeholders of the commencement of enforcement actions against banks found to be in default of agreed remittance timelines.”
Mr Maiwada disclosed that any bank that fails to remit collected Customs revenue within the prescribed timeline will be liable to penalty interest calculated at three per cent above the prevailing Nigerian Interbank Offered Rate for the period of the delay.
He added that affected banks would be formally notified of the delayed amounts, the applicable penalty, and the deadline for settlement.
“Accordingly, any designated bank that fails to remit collected Customs revenue within the prescribed period shall be liable to penalty interest calculated at three per cent above the prevailing Nigerian Interbank Offered Rate for the duration of the delay.
“Affected banks will receive formal notifications indicating the delayed amount, applicable penalty, and the timeline for settlement,” the statement read.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The deputy managing director of First Bank of Nigeria (FBN) Limited, Mr Ini Ebong, has offloaded some shares of FBN Holdings Plc, the parent firm of the banking institution.
A regulatory notice from the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited confirmed the development on Thursday.
It was disclosed that the transaction occurred on Friday, December 12, 2025, on the floor of the stock exchange.
The sale involved about 11.8 million shares, precisely 11,783,333 units traded at N31.14 per share, amounting to about N366.9 million.
Mr Ebong, who studied Architecture from University of Ife and obtained Bachelor and Master of Science degrees, became the DMD of First Bank in June 2024. Prior to this appointment, he was Executive Director, Treasury and International Banking since January 2022.
He was previously the Group Executive, Treasury and International Banking, a position he held since 2016 after serving as the bank’s Treasurer from 2011 to 2016.
Before joining First Bank, he was the Head of African Fixed Income and Local Markets Trading, Renaissance Securities Nigeria Limited, the Nigerian registered subsidiary of Renaissance Capital. He also worked with Citigroup for 14 years as Country Treasurer and Sales and Trading Business Head.
He has a passion for market development and has worked actively to drive change and internationalisation of the Nigerian financial markets: foreign exchange, fixed income and securities.
He has worked closely with regulatory bodies such as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Debt Management Office (DMO) in assisting with the development of fresh monetary and foreign exchange policies, to broaden and deepen markets and open them up to international practices.
At various times he has facilitated and delivered courses and seminars on a wide variety of subjects covering Money Markets, Securities and Foreign exchange trading and market risk management subjects to regulators, corporate customers, banks and market participants.
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