Justice Olubunmi Abike-Fadipe of the Ikeja Special Offences
Court has denied describing Zenith Bank as a fraudulent organisation as against
what is being peddled on some news platform.
To prove that she never made such statement, the honourable
justice has also released the original certified True Copy (CTC) of her
judgment ; while describing all news outlets peddling the rumours as fake.
So, one wondered where these fake news platforms derived
their stories from. The certified True Copy (CTC) of the judgment is now in the
open for anyone to see.
These online platforms had reported that the Justice accused
Zenith Bank Plc of bribing both the judges and lawyers for 11 years to pervert
justice, with several online media outlets alleging that Justice Olubunmi
Abike-Fadipe made the claim on Tuesday, March 8, 2022 while delivering judgment
in a suit marked LD/ADR/186/2014 between Real Integrated and Hospitality
Limited as claimant and Zenith Bank Plc and State Universal Basic Education
(SUBEB) as first and second defendants respectively.
One such publication quotes the judge as saying “My
recommendation is that Zenith Bank is a fraud and people must be very careful
in their dealings with the bank.”
Some of the other quotes read: “Zenith Bank bribed the
lawyers in the matter.
“This they have done for 11 years. So many lawyers and
judges have been bribed in this matter just perverting justice. What is more
embarrassing, the current governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele
was the one who came to navigate and begged for the deposit. He has not been
able to do anything to Zenith Bank because he was the managing director of the
bank at the time of this transaction.”
However, nowhere in the Certified True Copy (CTC) of the
judgment that was made available to credible news platforms showed that the
Judge did not make such statements.
While the Judge did make a scathing criticism of the bank,
Justice Fadipe did not accuse Zenith bank of bribing judges and lawyers for 11
years to fraudulently alter the course of justice, as claimed by the online
mediums.
There was also no mention of Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin
Emefiele in the CTC of the judgment.
The judge’s comments, as contained in the judgement,
include: “The 1st defendant has been the beneficiary of the malevolent game of
chess it plunged both claimant and the 2nd defendant into, holding the sum of
N872,780,552.84 in its custody without paying interest thereon from 17th
February 2011 until 2nd February 2016 when the Court ordered that the money be
paid into an interest yielding account in the names of the claimant and the 2nd
defendant pending determination of the suit, which order was curiously varied
by the consent of all the parties on 20th September 2016 so that the money
remained in the 1st defendant’s custody without interest.
“The act of the 1st defendant was unconscionable and
detrimental to the goodwill of the claimant and its trade credit with its
customers. It was a deliberate and malicious act against the interest of the
claimant and the 1st defendant continues to enjoy the largesse in bad faith.
Exhibits C4 and C5 clearly state that the funds to be transferred were to
offset part of the claimant’s indebtedness for the importation of dictionaries,
but the 1st defendant was impervious to this need. I therefore find and hold
that the claimant is entitled to substantial damages against the 1st defendant
for the injury caused to it.”
The judge made the comments while granting the claimants
four reliefs.
The reliefs are that the 1st defendant (Zenith) was in breach
of contract when on 7th October, 2011 it refused the claimant to draw from its
account No. 1012465427 “despite the fact that the said account was in enough
credit to cover the withdrawals sought to be made on the said date.”
The judge further restrained the bank “from disturbing or
refusing the claimant from operating its account No. 1012465427 in the 1st
defendant’s bank or from honouring the claimant’s transfer or payment
obligations to third parties from the said account as long as same is in credit.”
It granted an “interest of 15% per annum on the sum of
N872,780,552.84 from 7th October 2011 when the 1st defendant denied the
claimant access to the funds in its account which was in credit at that date
till judgment.
“Interest on the judgment sum at the rate of 10% per annum
from judgment date till final liquidation thereof.
“Costs of this action in the sum of N2.5million.
Of a truth, Zenith Bank has had a record of open and
transparent operations, this earned the organization four SERAS CSR Africa
Awards that include "Best Company in Reporting and Transparency”,
"Best Company in Infrastructure Development", "Best Company in
Gender Equality and Women Empowerment", and the coveted "Most
Responsible Organisation in Africa".
In recognition of its track record of excellent performance,
Zenith Bank was voted as Best Commercial Bank in Nigeria in the World Finance
Banking Awards 2021, Best Bank in Nigeria in the Global Finance World's Best
Banks Awards 2020 and 2021, Bank of the Year (Nigeria) in The Banker's Bank of
the Year Awards 2020, and Best in Corporate Governance 'Financial Services'
Africa 2020 and 2021 by the Ethical Boardroom. Also, the bank emerged as the
Most Valuable Banking Brand in Nigeria in the Banker Magazine Top 500 Banking
Brands 2020 and 2021, Number One Bank in Nigeria by Tier-1 Capital in the
"2021 Top 1000 World Banks" Ranking by The Banker Magazine and the
Retail Bank of the year at the BusinessDay Banks and Other Financial
Institutions (BOFI) Awards 2020 and 2021.
Zenith Bank has continued to distinguish itself in the
Nigerian financial services industry through superior service offerings, unique
customer experience and sound financial indices. The bank remains a clear
leader in the digital space with several firsts in the deployment of innovative
products, solutions and an assortment of alternative channels that ensure
convenience, speed and safety of transactions.
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