The Appeal Court in Lagos has been urged to upturn the sale of Fortune Towers by Union Bank.
Fortune Towers, which is located at 27/29 Adeyemo Alakija Street in Victoria Island area of Lagos, was said to have formed part of the assets of defunct Fortune International Bank Plc.
The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), which is Fortune Bank’s liquidator, had appealed against a ruling by the Federal High Court in Lagos which dismissed its suit which sought to invalidate the sale.
NDIC had urged the lower court to nullify the sale because it was done while a winding up proceedings was pending.
The appellant said Union Bank sold the building to Cowrie Business Solutions Ltd on July 27, 2007.
However, Justice Okechukwu Okeke (now retired) had dismissed NDIC’s suit, and held that it was an abuse of court process.
The judge had further said the suit “is a clever attempt to circumvent the import of the decisions of courts of co-ordinate jurisdiction.”
According to the judge, the plaintiff’s suit sought the same reliefs as contained in two other related cases.
Dissatisfied, NDIC, represented by Chief Emeka Ngige (SAN) appealed on three grounds.
Among others, Ngige said the reliefs sought in the suit before Justice Okeke were not the same as those in two other cases.
Besides, the appellant’s counsel said it is not the law that once a party files another suit before another court on the same subject matter, it amounts to an abuse of court process.
“An act can give rise to different suits. A subject matter may activate different rights of action.
“Different suits can originate from the same subject matter but with different right, reliefs and parties,” NDIC said.
According to the appellant, there is abuse of court process when there is a multiplicity of suits between the same opponents on the same subject-matter and on the same issues.
In the suit numbered, FHC/L/CS/1321/2005, the parties were Fortune International Bank vs Union Bank; the second suit, with no. ID/1098/2007, had Fortune International Bank vs UBN Property Company Limited, Union Bank and Cowrie Business; while in the suit before Justice Okeke, the parties were NDIC vs Union Bank and Cowrie Business.
Besides, the appellant said the judge erred in law in failing to consider documentary evidence placed before him.
Daily Independent
