Hajia Umma Muktar Ahmed Mohammed v. Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (2024)

LAWGLOBAL HUB Lead Judgment Report – SUPREME COURT

ABUBAKAR SADIQ UMAR, JSC (Delivering the leading judgment)

This is an appeal against the judgment of the Court of Appeal, Kaduna Judicial Division (lower court), delivered on 10th June, 2015.

The judgment affirmed the decision of the Federal High Court, Kaduna Judicial Division (trial court) which inured in favour of the respondent.

Dissatisfied with the decision of the lower court, this appeal was commenced challenging the judgment of the lower court.

Facts

By an amended statement of claim dated 19th September, 2003, the respondent as the plaintiff claimed against the defendants jointly and severally the sum of N14,795,399.71k being the balance outstanding on the overdraft facilities granted to the 1st defendant, interest, and other bank charges due from the 1st defendant to the Commercial Trust Bank Limited at closure on 16th January, 1998 and interest at the rate of 21% per annum from 17th January, 1998 till judgment and final liquidation of the debt.

The action was commenced at the Federal High Court, Lagos but subsequently transferred to the Federal High Court, Kaduna for determination. It was the respondent’s grouse that in the exercise of its statutory duties as the liquidator of the defunct Commercial Trust Bank Limited (“the bank” or “the failed bank”), it discovered the indebtedness of Credit and Finance Limited (“the Company”) to the bank to the tune of N14,795,399,71k (Fourteen Million, Seven Hundred and Ninety-five Thousand, Three hundred and Ninety-Nine Naira and Seventy-One Kobo).

According to the respondent, a credit facility had been granted by the failed bank to the Company and same had remained unpaid. The respondent alleged that the credit facility granted to the Company was approved by the bank due to the involvement of Alhaji Muktar Ahmed Muhammed (“appellant’s husband or Chairman of the failed Bank”) in his capacity as the Chairman of the Bank.

The respondent thereafter wrote a series of letters to the appellant’s husband for the settlement of the indebtedness to no avail.

Consequent upon the foregoing, the respondent took out a writ of summons seeking jointly and severally against Credit and Finance Limited and appellant’s husband – the payment of the outstanding sum on the overdraft facilities granted to the Company.

After hearing the parties, the trial court in its judgment delivered on 2nd May, 2006, found in favour of the respondent and granted all the reliefs sought by the respondent. Dissatisfied with the judgment of the trial court, the appellant’s husband appealed to the lower court.

In the judgment delivered on 10th June, 2015, the lower court agreed with the decision of the trial court to a substantial extent. The interest rate on the outstanding sum was reviewed by the lower court from 21% per annum as awarded by the trial court to 18% per annum.

Dissatisfied with the judgment of the lower court, an appeal was commenced to upturn the judgment of the lower court. The notice of appeal dated 4th September, 2015 was replaced by an amended notice of appeal filed on the 19th April, 2022.

The name of the appellant’s husband was also substituted with the appellant in the amended notice of appeal. In the amended notice of appeal, the appellant raised 8 grounds of appeal and distilled 5 issues for determination therefrom. These issues are contained in the appellant’s amended brief of argument, which is dated 14th April, 2022 and settled by Ibrahim Gamdeh Adamu, Esq.