The Court of Appeal in Abuja has quashed the judgment of a Federal Capital Territory High Court that dismissed the N226 million reversal lawsuit filed by Jaiz Bank against Capricorn Digital Limited.
The appeal decided on November 5, 2024, was filed by the legal team of Jaiz Bank Plc and Ammasco International Limited (Appellants) against the financial institution and Capricorn Digital Limited (Respondents) in Appeal No: CA/ABJ/CV/351/2023.
In court documents exclusively reviewed by Nairametrics, Jaiz Bank disagreed with the ruling of Justice Bello Kawu, who upheld Capricorn’s preliminary objection to the suit and dismissed it for being a gross abuse of the judicial process.
Facts of the Case
- Jaiz Bank and Ammasco had sought a single relief, asking the Court to order the reversal of a total sum of N226,250,000 transferred from the account of Ammasco, domiciled with Jaiz Bank, to the account of the second respondent (Capricorn), domiciled with Guaranty Trust Bank Ltd.
- The sum was said to be allegedly part of “a series of fraudulent withdrawals” made from Ammasco’s account with Jaiz Bank between September 24 and 25, 2021.
- Capricorn’s legal team had urged the lower court to dismiss the suit for being an abuse of the court process, arguing that Jaiz Bank had previously filed an ex-parte application at the Magistrate Court for the reversal of the same sum.
- Capricorn claimed the suit at the lower court was filed during the pendency of proceedings at the Magistrate Court.
- On February 15, 2023, the lower court, presided over by Justice Bello Kawu, agreed with Capricorn’s position that Jaiz Bank’s legal action constituted a multiplicity of suits and an abuse of court process, and dismissed the suit.
Dissatisfied with the ruling, Jaiz Bank’s lawyer, Onochie C. Onwuegbuna Esq., approached the appeal Court, arguing that the N226,250,000 had been in the custody of Capricorn since September 2021, and the appellants had been unable to recover it due to the dismissal of their suit.
He emphasized that when a party alleges abuse of the court process, the facts supporting such a claim must be presented to the court through an affidavit and documentary evidence.
He denied the allegation of “multiplicity of suits,” stating that there was no evidence before the court to suggest the pendency of any other suit on the same subject matter as of October 7, 2021.
“My Noble Lords, we respectfully submit that the evidence placed before the lower court by the second respondent (Capricorn) in support of its preliminary objection fell short of what was required, as there was no evidence whatsoever to establish that any other suit was pending as of October 7, 2021, when Suit No: FCT/HC/BW/CV/281/2021 was filed,” he submitted, asking the appeal court to quash the trial Court’s ruling.
In response, Capricorn’s lawyer, Mobolaji Kuti Esq., stated that on September 27, 2021, the appellants filed an ex-parte application at the Magistrate Court in FCT, Abuja, seeking an order directing GTB and Capricorn to reverse the allegedly fraudulent transfer from Ammasco’s account, adding the Magistrate Court had granted the application on September 29, 2021.
Kuti argued that while the suit before the Magistrate Court was still pending, the appellants “contemporaneously” filed the current suit (which led to this appeal) involving the same parties and the same subject matter at the lower court on October 7, 2021, constituting an abuse of court process.
“While the suit at the Magistrate Court and the ex-parte orders made therein were pending, the appellants continued their abuse of process by moving the trial court on October 21, 2021, to grant similar ex-parte orders over the same subject matter between the same parties,” Kuti argued.
Capricorn said it filed a notice of preliminary objection on November 23, 2021, at the FCT court, arguing that the suit should be dismissed for abuse of the judicial process.
In its ruling on February 15, 2023, the trial court, per Justice Bello Kawu, upheld Capricorn’s objection.
What the Appeal Court Said
- In its judgment on November 5, 2024, delivered virtually, the three-judge panel of the Court of Appeal held that Capricorn had failed to provide any evidence showing that a suit was pending at the Magistrate Court after the proceedings on September 29, 2023, when the ex-parte order was granted.
- The appeal court described Capricorn’s claims as “mere oral assertions without proof.”
- The court held that if there was a pending suit, Capricorn’s legal team should have provided proof of the next date of litigation at the lower courts.
“It is abundantly clear that Capricorn, which accused Jaiz Bank of abuse of court process, failed woefully to prove that any suit was pending at the Magistrate Court,” the appeal court said.
“I hold that there is no other pending suit in any court, particularly at the Magistrate Court in FCT, to constitute an abuse of the suit at the lower court,” the appeal court concluded.
- As a result, the appeal court set aside the decision of the lower court and ordered that the suit be returned to the High Court, FCT, for trial and determination of the merits before another judge.
- A cost of N200,000 each was awarded in favour of the appellants and against the respondents, jointly and severally.
