A Federal High Court, in Lagos, has ordered 20 commercial banks in Nigeria to dishonour all withdrawal cheques from Mr Sani Dangote and his companies, Dansa Foods Limited and Bulk Pack Services Limited.

Ruling yesterday in a suit brought by Union Bank Plc against Sani Dangote and his companies, Justice Okon Abang said the order subsists till September 11, 2014, when the court would entertain all applications in the suit.

The judge also ordered all the banks involved to, within five days of the interim order, file affidavits declaring the defendants statement of accounts with them.

Union Bank had taken Sani Dangote and his companies to court over alleged refusal to liquidate about N5.2 billion loan granted them since September, 2008.

The bank, through its lawyer, Mr Chukwudi Enebeli, from the chambers of Mr Kemi Pinheiro, had instituted suits seeking an order of injunction to restrain all the defendants’ banks in Nigeria from allowing them withdraw funds from their accounts pending the determination of the suits.

The banks are Access, CITI, Diamond, Ecobank, Enterprise, Fidelity, Keystone, Mainstreet, Skye, Wema, Heritage, Sterling, Unity and Zenith Bank. Others are First Bank, First City Monument Bank, Guaranty Trust Bank, Stanbic IBTC, Standard Chartered Bank and United Bank for Africa.

In the affidavits in support of its suits, Union Bank Plc, urged the court to urgently grant the mareva order because in a bid to evade payment of the loan, Dangote had been making frantic efforts to deplete the funds in the accounts of his companies and that the bank’s investigations revealed that the defendants had started diverting the funds to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, Canada and Switzerland.

One Olufunmilola Ayoola, an official of the bank, who deposed to the bank’s affidavit, alleged that the failure of the defendants to liquidate the monumental debt had negatively affected the Nigerian economy, a development which the bank claimed necessitated the suits.

According to Ayoola, Union Bank Plc, had been having difficulty in extending credit facilities to small scale businesses, which in turn would have helped in boosting the nation’s economy and salvage the country from its present under development crisis.

When the matter came up for hearing on Thursday, the motion could not be heard as counsel for the defendants informed the court that they had filed objections challenging jurisdiction of the court to entertain the suit.

Out of all the banks, Diamond and Zenith, appeared before the court on Thursday and explained that Dangote was equally indebted to them.

Zenith Bank, specifically said Dangote was indebted to the bank to the tune of seven million euros.

In view of the defendants’ objections contesting jurisdiction, the judge said the matter would be adjourned till September 11 to be able to take all the applications.

•Adapted from a Nigerian Tribune report. Photo shows Sani Dangote.

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