The Lagos Division of the Court of Appeal yesterday upturned a 2013 judgment of the Federal High Court in a matter between RCN Networks Ltd and Guaranty Trust Bank PLC.
The Federal High Court ruling had previously resulted in the “unlawful foreclosure” by GTBank PLC of a ₦30 billion, 44-room mansion owned by Alhaji Agboola Abiola, one of the sons of the late winner of the June 12, 1993 presidential election, Bashorun M.K.O. Abiola.
In a unanimous judgment in suit number CA/L/888/2014, the Court of Appeal held that the trial court had ignored glaring discrepancies on the execution page of a tripartite legal mortgage registered by the bank at the Lagos State Land Registry against the property.
The court found that these discrepancies rendered the mortgage document so deficient that it could not confer any legal right on the bank to foreclose on the property.
One of the major discrepancies identified by the court was that the document was unsigned by the alleged mortgagor, Alhaji Abiola. Additionally, the court noted that the footer of the document included handwritten alterations absent from other pages—an issue the appellant argued suggested forgery by the bank.
As a result, and after evaluating the facts, the court discharged all legal charges levied on the property by GTBank in favour of the appellant.
The appellant was represented by Dr. Charles Adeogun-Phillips, SAN, while the respondent was represented by Mr. Norrison Quakers, SAN.
