The Federal High Court in Lagos, presided over by Justice Daniel Osiagor, has fixed July 18, 2025, for hearing in a suit filed by Sterling Bank Limited and its affiliates, challenging the constitutional validity of an investigation initiated by the House of Representatives into financial transactions previously adjudicated by a court of competent jurisdiction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The plaintiffs, Sterling Bank, Sterling Financial Holdings Company Plc, and senior executives Yemi Odubiyi, Abubakar Suleiman, Lekan Olakunle, and Dele Faseemo, are seeking a perpetual injunction restraining the House of Representatives and the Chairman of its Public Petitions Committee, Michael Etaba, from acting upon a police report that accuses the bank of financial misconduct involving two of its customers, Dr. Innocent Usoro and Miden Systems Limited.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Also joined as defendants are Usoro, Miden Systems Limited, and the Inspector General of Police.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The suit, which was filed by Senior Advocate of Nigeria Femi Falana, contends that the National Assembly lacks the constitutional authority to investigate the internal affairs of a private financial institution or to reopen matters conclusively determined by the courts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Relying on Sections 88 and 89 of the 1999 Constitution, the plaintiffs maintained that legislative investigative powers do not extend to private legal disputes or enforcement of judicial decisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They asked the court to declare unlawful any attempt by the House to summon bank officials or act on the findings of the police report, which they describe as an indirect attempt to relitigate issues conclusively settled by a 2021 court judgment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In their response, counsel for the defendants, Rowland\u00a0 Uzoechi,\u00a0 urged the court to dismiss the suit for lack of jurisdiction, describing it as speculative and designed to shield the plaintiffs from lawful legislative inquiry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He further alleged that the 2021 judgment cited by the plaintiffs was fraudulently obtained through forged documents and ex parte proceedings lacking in procedural fairness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Usoro, in a 40-paragraph counter-affidavit, alleged that Sterling Bank fabricated a $30m, loan transaction using forged documentation, including fictitious signatures and unauthorised board resolutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He also referenced a January 2025 police report, which, according to him, uncovered suspicious inflows exceeding the sum of $122m into the accounts of Miden Systems Limited, allegedly withdrawn under questionable circumstances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sterling Bank has denied the allegations in full, maintaining that all transactions were lawful and connected to a commercial loan linked to a 2010 contract with Shell Petroleum Development Company, executed by Miden Systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The matter, which raises substantial constitutional questions regarding the doctrine of separation of powers and the scope of legislative inquiry, is slated for both mention and hearing on July 18, 2025.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Federal High Court in Lagos, presided over by Justice Daniel Osiagor, has fixed July 18, 2025, for hearing in a suit filed by Sterling Bank Limited and its affiliates, challenging the constitutional validity of an investigation initiated by the House of Representatives into financial transactions previously adjudicated by a court of competent jurisdiction. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":88841,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-88840","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t