The Federal High Court in Lagos has ordered Mrs Okonjo Udokanma, Chief Executive Officer of Fine & Country West Africa and sister-in-law to World Health Organisation (WHO) Director-General, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, to pay Providus Bank Plc the sum of $97,982.19.
The amount represents the full utilisation of an overdraft facility tied to her World Elite Card.
Providus Bank had instituted the suit designated FHC/L/CS/901/2025, seeking to recover the debt and interest, contending that Mrs Okonjo accepted and utilised the overdraft facility under the terms of her account agreement.
Delivering judgment, Justice Ambrose Lewis-Allagoa held that Mrs Okonjo voluntarily signed her Account Opening Form, which expressly empowered the bank to grant and recover overdrafts with applicable interest.
The court found that her consistent withdrawals exceeding her account balance confirmed her acceptance and use of the facility.
While upholding the bank’s claim, Justice Lewis-Allagoa described the 26 per cent interest rate sought as excessive and reduced it to 10 per cent per annum until full repayment.
He emphasised that courts can intervene where lending rates become unnecessarily exorbitant.
The judge also dismissed an application by Fine & Country International Realty (West Africa) Limited to lift a Post-No-Debit (PND) order on its account linked to the defendant’s BVN.
Relying on the UK Supreme Court precedent in JSC BTA Bank v. Ablyazov [2015] UKSC 64, the court ruled that assets can be frozen if a debtor has direct or indirect control over them, even without legal ownership.
Justice Lewis-Allagoa concluded that as CEO, Mrs Okonjo exercised control over Fine & Country’s funds, making the PND order valid and constitutional.
#ProvidusBank #OkonjoUdokanma #FineAndCountry #FederalHighCourt #NgoziOkonjoIweala #LagosJudgment #BankingLaw #Nigeria
All rights reserved. The content on this website, including text and other digital materials, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed, in whole or in part, without the express written consent of The News Accelerator Network.
For advertising inquiries, news coverage, or press releases, please get in touch with us at
📧 thenewsacceleratornetwork@gmail.com
📞 08051017159, 08173970030
You can also subscribe to our YouTube channels here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVELRC3WinKZ7tdmhmZaRmQ?sub_confirmation=1
Post a Comment