Business News
Innoson claims it has won an N8 billion judgment debt against GT Bank (Explained)
Innoson Vehicles, yesterday claimed it had been awarded an N8 billion judgment against Guaranty Trust Bank.
Published
2 years agoon

The case between GT Bank and Innoson Motors took another turn yesterday after the local car manufacturer sent out a tweet with the heading “Innoson Takes over GTB over N8.7 Billion Judgment debt; as Supreme Court Dismiss GTB’s Appeal”
In a series of tweets published by the company, it claimed it “through a Writ of FiFa taken over Guaranty Trust Bank PLC for and on behalf of Innoson Nigeria Ltd as a result of the Bank’s indebtedness to Innoson Nigeria Ltd.”. It also claimed this was based on “a landmark decision” on February 27th, 2019, where “the Supreme Court of Nigeria dismissed GTB’s appeal – SC. 694/2014- against the judgment of the Court of Appeal, Ibadan Division.”
See thread below;
Press Release
Breaking: Innoson Takes over GTB over N8.7 Billion Judgment debt; as Supreme Court Dismiss GTB’s Appeal
The Chairman of Innoson Group, Chief Dr Innocent Chukwuma, OFR has through a Writ of FiFa taken over Guaranty Trust Bank PLC for and on behalf pic.twitter.com/lZ2dHXLFbB
— Innoson Vehicles (@innosonvehicles) March 29, 2019
of Innoson Nigeria Ltd as a result of the Bank’s indebtedness to Innoson Nigeria Ltd. In a landmark decision on February 27th 2019, the Supreme Court of Nigeria dismissed GTB’s appeal – SC. 694/2014- against the judgment of Court of Appeal, Ibadan Division.
— Innoson Vehicles (@innosonvehicles) March 29, 2019
The Court of Appeal, Ibadan division had in its decision of 6th February 2014 dismissed GTB’s appeal against the Federal High Court, Ibadan Division.
Thus, the Court of Appeal affirmed the judgment of the Federal High Court, Ibadan Division which ordered GTB by way of
— Innoson Vehicles (@innosonvehicles) March 29, 2019
Garnishee order absolute – to pay N2.4 Billion to Innoson with a 22% interest, per annum, on the judgment sum until the final liquidation of the judgment debt.
Rather than obey the judgment of the Court of Appeal,
— Innoson Vehicles (@innosonvehicles) March 29, 2019
GTB approached the Supreme Court to challenge the Court of Appeal’s decision.
However in an ruling delivered by Honourable Olabode Rhodes-Vivour JSC on Wednesday, February 27th2019, the Lord Justices of the Supreme Court (JSC) dismissed GTB’s appeal and thus affirmed
— Innoson Vehicles (@innosonvehicles) March 29, 2019
the concurrent judgment of both the Court of Appeal and the Federal High Court, Ibadan Division which ordered GTB by way of Garnishee order absolute – to pay N2.4 Billion to Innoson with a 22% interest, per annum, on the judgment until the final liquidation of the judgment.
— Innoson Vehicles (@innosonvehicles) March 29, 2019
<
The Judgment debt of N2.4B has an accrued interest as at today of about N6,717,909,849.96 which results to about N8.8 Billion.
Based on the Supreme Court’s decision of 27th February 2019 the counsel to Innoson, Prof McCarthy Mbadugha ESQ, had approached the Federal High Court,
— Innoson Vehicles (@innosonvehicles) March 29, 2019
Awka Division for leave to enforce the judgment having obtained Certificates of Judgment from the Ibadan Division of the Federal High Court.
— Innoson Vehicles (@innosonvehicles) March 29, 2019
Having obtained the requisite leave, the Federal High Court issued the necessary process for levying execution – the Writ of Fifa.
Cornel Osigwe
Head of Corporate Communications
Innoson Group— Innoson Vehicles (@innosonvehicles) March 29, 2019
]/blockquote>
Innosons’ claim against GT Bank
We won – The company claims that GT Bank lost a Supreme Court appeal for it to rescind the lower court’s decision for it to pay back Innoson N2.4 billion plus interest at 22% per annum in “illegal charges” against the car maker. Thus, since GT Bank lost as it claimed, it further went ahead to obtain a Writ of FiFa (an abbreviation for Writ of Fieri Facias) granting it authority to take over any GT Bank branch that is worth the N2.4 billion plus the interest it claims the bank owes.
What is a Writ of Fieri – Basically this is a court document used by the successful plaintiff to enforce the judgment of a court by taking a lien on a property of the defendant that it believes is worth more than the amount being owed.
Does it mean Innoson has taken over GT Bank as its tweet depicts – The headline was purely sensational and in no way means it has taken over GT Bank. Rather, if the judgment was consistent with Innoson’s claim that it won, it will either have to sell a GT Bank property to recover its claims or get a direct payment from the bank.
How much is involved ? – According to Innoson its claim is about “The Judgment debt of N2.4 billion has an accrued interest as at today of about N6,717,909,849.96 which results in about N8.8 Billion.” The accrued interest is this much because it is calculated from when Innnoson first obtained a favourable judgment. And since GT Bank kept appealing, the interest kept piling up. So if true, GT Bank is on the hook to pay almost N9 billion in damages.
Will this hurt GT bank ? – GT Bank is one of the biggest banks in Nigeria with a shareholder’s fund of over N575 billion. It surely has enough cash to pay and may have even provided for this judgment debt if it loses.
UPDATE
Guaranty Trust Bank has since responded to the supposed take over.
In a press release sent to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), it stated that the order pertained to an account domiciled with it, and not the bank as an entity.
The judgment allegedly in issue is in respect of garnishee proceedings against the account of the Nigeria Customs Service domiciled with the bank, and not the bank as an entity.
The lender also stated that it was taking all necessary steps to address the situation.
The bank as a law-abiding corporate citizen is taking all necessary steps to address the situation and to ensure that no illegal or fraudulent execution is carried out.
Onome Ohwovoriole has a degree in Economics and Statistics from the University of Benin and prior to joining Nairametrics in December 2016 as Lead Analyst had stints in Publishing, Automobile Services, Entertainment and Leadership Training.He covers companies in the Nigerian corporate space, especially those listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).He also has a keen interest in new frontiers like Cryptocurrencies and Fintech. In his spare time, he loves to read books on finance, fiction as well as keep up with happenings in the world of international diplomacy.You can contact him via [email protected]


Business News
Senate calls for the liberalization of cement policy to crash the price of the commodity
The Senate also tasked the FG on providing more industrial incentives to bring new players into the cement industry.
Published
16 mins agoon
April 20, 2021
The Nigerian Senate has called for the liberalization of Nigeria’s cement policy to boost production and subsequently crash the price of the commodity in the country.
This motion was raised by Senator Lola Ashiru at today’s senate plenary, the senator also tasked the Federal Government on providing more industrial incentives to bring new players into the cement industry, in addition to the liberalization of the cement policy in Nigeria.
Ashiru explained that to reduce the price of cement and in extension, other building materials in the country, the Federal Government needs to provide an enabling operating environment that will encourage new entrants in the country.
The Senate in conclusion called on the FG to provide more industrial incentives and protections such as concessionary loans and larger tax incentives to encourage new entrants and expand the national cement production infrastructure, as this boost in production will lead to a downward review of cement price in Nigeria.
What industry leaders are saying
Earlier this year the founder of BUA Group, Abdulsamad Rabiu, called for the liberalization of Nigeria’s cement policy to boost production and reduce the price of the commodity.
The billionaire philanthropist faulted the belief that Nigeria is self-sufficient in terms of cement production, noting that recent statistics and figures on Nigeria’s population and cement production do not support this status of sufficiency in cement production as stated by some individuals.
He attributed the high price of cement products in the country to the supply gap which exists in the country, as the few producers who currently operate in the country are unable able to meet the country’s huge and growing demand.
The Group Executive Director, Strategy, Portfolio Development and Capital Projects, Devakumar Edwin, explained that the demand and consumption of cement in the nation currently outstrips supply, and this can be pegged on the growth in the country’s population, and the strong appetite for real estate investment and construction in the country.
He revealed that a supply gap of about 40% exists in the country’s cement market and that all players in the industry are working hard to level production with the rising demand in the country.
Business News
Paypal’s Venmo now permits cryptocurrency trading
Venmo will support four different cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, and Litecoin.
Published
2 hours agoon
April 20, 2021
Venmo, a mobile payment service owned by PayPal has announced that it has started allowing users to buy, hold and sell cryptocurrencies on its app. Just like PayPal, Venmo will support four different cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, and Litecoin, and users can carry out transactions with as little as $1 on the app
Founded in 2009, Venmo has over 70 million users and it is one of the most popular payment channels in the US. The payment platform processed around $159 billion in payments last year.
Since the app functions like a social network, adding cryptocurrency will offer a more user-friendly feel for people who love buying and selling crypto.
READ: 28 million merchants to be granted crypto usage on PayPal
As bigger companies show more interest in cryptocurrency, there will be wider adoption of virtual currencies in future. Venmo is the latest payment app that is offering support for cryptocurrency on its platform.
Paypal, the parent company of Venmo is one of the most active companies in the crypto space as it allows users to buy, sell and hold cryptocurrencies in their digital wallets. Paypal users can also spend their coins at millions of merchants globally.
Crypto on Venmo is enabled through PayPal’s partnership with Paxos Trust Company, a regulated provider of cryptocurrency products and services.
What they are saying
Darrell Esch, Venmo’s Senior Vice President and general manager said “Our goal is to provide our customers with an easy-to-use platform that simplifies the process of buying and selling cryptocurrencies and demystifies some of the common questions and misconceptions that consumers may have.”
Nairametrics | Company Earnings
Access our Live Feed portal for the latest company earnings as they drop.
- 2020 FY Results: Unity Bank Plc posts profit after tax of N2.09 billion.
- Guinea Insurance Plc reports a loss of N142.13 million in 9M 2020.
- Unilever Nigeria Plc set to hold Annual General Meeting on 6th of May.
- UBA Plc posts profit after tax of N38.16 billion in Q1 2021.
- PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc appoints Ifueko Okauru as Independent Non-Executive Director.
-
Get the scoops and market intelligence that can help
you make better investment decisions right in your
mailbox.