The Federal High Court sitting at Abuja on January 31, 2022, delivered a Judgment in favour of Zenith Bank Plc and Zenith Securities Limited in Suit No: FHC/ABJ/CS/343/2020 between Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) v. Zenith Bank Plc & 2 Others, striking out the suit.
AMCON had sued Zenith Bank seeking an order of specific performance in favour of AMCON on the transfer of 278,072,587 units of shares used as collateral for loans granted by Zenith Bank to one of its customers, Rockson Engineering Limited.
AMCON through its Counsel, J.Y Pam, Esq. of J.Y Pam & Co further claimed an alternative relief of the sum of NGN8,233,729,301.07.
Defense Against Zenith Bank Suit Led By Kenna Partners
Zenith Bank Plc and Zenith Securities Limited through their Counsel, Kenna Partners, led by Professor Fabian Ajogwu, SAN in their response to the suit, filed their Counter Affidavit and Written arguments in opposition to AMCON’s originating summons, arguing that certain conditions precedent had not been fulfilled by AMCON and that the said shares were indeed collateral for loans that Zenith granted to its customer, Rockson Engineering Limited and which were unpaid.
Counsel to Zenith Bank, Adeola Adeniyi of Kenna Partners also challenged the jurisdiction of the Court to hear the matter on the ground, amongst others, that same was an abuse of the court process, given the pendency of two other appeals before the Court of Appeal, on the same subject matter as the instant suit.
Delivering the Court’s Judgment on January 31, 2022, Justice I.E. Ekwo agreed with the submissions of Counsel to Zenith Bank Plc and Zenith Securities and held that the Federal High Court lacked the jurisdiction to hear the matter as same amounted to an abuse of the Court process. The Court accordingly struck out the Zenith bank suit for want of jurisdiction.
Source: ThisDay
