Lagos (WorldStage Newsonline)-- A Federal High Court in Lagos on Tuesday granted the request of the former Managing Director of Intercontinental Bank, Erastus Akingbola by stopping the planned sale of the bank to a rival Access Bank.

Intercontinental Bank, one of the banks rescued by the Central Bank of Nigeria in 2009 had earlier signed a memorandum of understanding to merge with Access Bank.

But the embattled bank chief and Bayo Dada secured an ex-parte order from Justice Okechukwu Okeke who also restrained the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) from disposing or altering the shareholding structure of Intercontinental Bank in favour of Access Bank.

The court also restrained Intercontinental Bank and Access Bank from taking further step (s) on the purported Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for business combinations signed by the two banks.

The judge's orders are to subsist pending the hearing and determination of a suit filed by Akingbola and Dada.

The two men in the fresh suit are challenging the propriety of the MoU signed by Intercontinental Bank and Access Bank without recourse to them as shareholders of Intercontinental Bank.

Specifically the court restrained Access Bank, its agents, servants or privies from acquiring the shares or taking over the business operations of Intercontinental Bank and its assets pursuant to the purported MoU.

Justice Okeke further made order for substituted service of the main suit and the ex-parte orders on the defendants.

The court, however, ordered the plaintiffs to file an undertaking to pay damages to the defendants in the event that it later turn out that the orders ought not to have been made, while it further fixed June 8 for hearing of the motion on notice filed by Akingbola and Dada.

The former bank chiefs had listed Intercontinental Bank and its Managing Director, Mahmoud Lai Alabi and other directors – Abubakar Sule, Gbenga Alade, Olusegun Osilowo and Suleiman Yusuf as co-defendnats.

Others included Intercontinental Bank’s chairman, Raymond Obieri, Seinye Lulu-Briggs, Toyin Philips, Chris Alabi, J.S.P.C Nwokolo, Sanni Adams, Access Bank and CBN.

Akingbola and Dada in an affidavit in support of the suit maintained that the Managing Director of Access Bank, Aigboje I. Aig-Imoukhuede and his deputy, Herbert Wigwe are actually indebted to Intercontinental Bank to the tune of N16.247 billion.

The loan, which is said to be outstanding till date, was said to have been procured through a firm, United Alliance Company of Nigeria Limited.

They added that the said United Alliance Company recently wrote a letter dated March 28, 2011 to Alabi (Intercontinental MD) claiming that the debt was N10.2 billion, and requested for a change in repayment date up till December.

Besides, the plaintiffs stressed that Intercontinental Bank had an excellent business reputation which earned the bank meritorious rating by informed industry watchers, but that the fortune of the bank nose-dived when Sanusi sacked them in August 14, 2009 without lawful reason and fair hearing.

The plaintiffs added that the MoU for business combination between Access Bank and Intercontinental Bank was drawn up by the CBN and its Governor, and that the said MoU stipulated that the entire capital of Intercontinental would be cancelled and the bank would be dissolved without winding up.

They are therefore urging the court to set aside all steps and decisions taken by the CBN and its appointees on the board of Intercontinental Bank from August 14, 2009 except those in the ordinary cause of the day to day business operations of the bank.

They are also seeking an order nullifying a directive from the CBN removing Dada as a director on Intercontinental Bank.

They also want the court to order that a general meeting of the shareholders of Intercontinental Bank should be conveyed for the purposes of electing directors for the bank.

Story by Luke Ajulo (email - lukajanaku02@yahoo.com)

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