Enterprises Bank Limited V. Honeydrop Associate Resources Nigeria Limited (2016)

LawGlobal-Hub Lead Judgment Report – COURT OF APPEAL

MOHAMMED AMBI-USI DANJUMA, J.C.A.(Delivering the Leading Judgment)

The appellant?s appeal is against the judgment of the High Court of Osun State delievered by His Lordship A.A. Aderibigbe, J on the 20th of October, 2015 in Suit No. HOS/20/2011 in favour of the plaintiff thereat against the Defendant, now the appellant. The plaintiff is now the respondent.

The respondent had at the trial Court filed a claim for the sum of N 133, 704, 476.31 (One Hundred and Thirty Three Million, Seven Hundred and Four Thousand Four Hundred and Seventy Six Naira and Thirty One Kobo Only) against the appellant.

The respondent is a limited liability company with a Board of Directors and it opened its corporate account with its Certificate of Incorporation, memo and Articles of Associaton and a signature card/mandate card authorizing its Managing Director alone to withdraw funds from its account.

The respondent complained that the respondent?s company account as plaintiff was debited by a withdrawal of the sums indicated (Supra) by person (s) unknown and not authorized by it. It therefore claimed by its writ of summons thus:

1. One Hundred and Thirty –

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Three Million, Seven Hundred and Four Thousand Four Hundred and Seventy Six Naira, Thirty One Kobo (N133,704, 476.31k) being sums paid into the Corporate Account No. 1521601000329 with the defendant by the Government of Osun State for an executed contract and which payment is confirmed by two entries on the statement of account issued by the defendant and the entries dated 15th May, 30th September, 2009 respectively and which sums the defendant allowed and arranged with persons unknown to withdraw from the plaintiff?s account in its Osogbo branch illegally and without the consent and authority written and/or unwritten of the plaintiff.

The appellant filed a notice of appeal challenging the said judgment by his notice of appeal dated 21-10-2015 and filed on 21-10-2015. It is contained at pages 512 ? 515 of the record of appeal.

ln accordance with the Rules of this Court, the parties filed their respective briefs of argument.

The appellant’s brief of argument in which he misrepresented the judgment as having been delivered on the 7th October, 2015 (although he correctly referred to the judgment as the one contained on pages 497 – 508 of

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the record) posits 3 issues for the determination of the appeal.

The issues are couched thus:

3.01. Whether the trial judge is right in not allowing Prince Toye Oyinlola to be joined when the allegation of the plaintiff respondent was that unknown person withdraw all the contract money in his account and Prince Toye Oyinlola came out to say that he was the person who operated the account and withdraw(sic) the money out of which the plaintiff/respondent and her managing Director benefited from the withdrawer(sic).