United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA) has been dragged before the Federal High Court sitting in Lagos over allegations that it secretly opened and operated a “ghost” corporate account in the name of a customer, through which over N5 billion was allegedly transacted without the company’s knowledge or authorisation.
The suit, marked FHC/L/CS/775/2025, was instituted by EFFDEE Nigeria Limited and its Managing Director, Mr Fouad Anthony Aquad, who accused the bank of breach of contract, negligence, breach of trust, identity theft, unlawful data processing, and violation of their constitutional right to privacy.
The plaintiffs are seeking declaratory and injunctive relief, alongside damages running into several billions of naira, including N3 billion claimed as aggravated damages.
According to the Statement of Claim filed before the court, EFFDEE Nigeria Limited maintained only one legitimate corporate account with UBA, which was opened on August 4, 2020.
The company insisted that it never applied for, authorised, or consented to the opening of any other account in its name with the bank.
The alleged irregularity reportedly came to light in January 2025, when the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) contacted Mr Aquad during a tax investigation and requested bank statements for two UBA accounts, which were said to belong to the company.
While one of the accounts was familiar to the company, the second account, identified as account number 1023232539, was completely unknown to the plaintiffs.
Alarmed by the development, the company claimed that it had conducted internal checks and discovered a second account had been opened and operated in its name for several years without its knowledge.
Court documents described the account as an illegal account, allegedly opened with an opening balance of N2 billion, said to be a loan facility.
Statements purportedly obtained from UBA showed that cumulative transactions exceeding N5.2 billion were processed through the account between 2020 and 2022, before the funds were almost entirely drawn down.
The plaintiffs further alleged that additional transactions running into hundreds of millions of naira were recorded between January 2023 and January 2025.
EFFDEE Nigeria Limited maintained that neither of its two directors applied for the account, signed any account opening mandate, submitted identification documents, passed a board resolution, or authorised any loan or transaction linked to the disputed account.
They alleged that the existence and operation of the account exposed the company’s Managing Director to serious legal jeopardy.
According to the suit, Mr Aquad was invited, detained, fingerprinted, and questioned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in August and September 2024 over transactions and a N2 billion facility allegedly associated with the disputed account, despite his repeated insistence that he had no knowledge of it.
The plaintiffs further accused UBA of unlawfully using confidential corporate and personal banking information obtained from their legitimate accounts to open and operate the second account.
They alleged that their identities were cloned, signatures and corporate resolutions forged, and mandatory Know Your Customer (KYC) and anti-money laundering checks ignored, allowing the account to function undetected for years.
They also alleged that while the disputed account allegedly operated without interruption, UBA restricted the company’s legitimate account in September 2024 on the grounds of incomplete documentation.
The plaintiffs described this action as suspicious and indicative of grave internal control failures within the bank.
In the suit, EFFDEE Nigeria Limited accused UBA of breaching several banking, consumer protection, and data protection laws, including the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act, relevant Central Bank of Nigeria regulations, the Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023, and the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act.
They further contended that the bank’s actions amounted to an unlawful interference with their right to privacy as guaranteed under Section 37 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).
Among other reliefs, the plaintiffs are asking the court to declare the opening and operation of the disputed account unlawful, award substantial monetary damages, and issue perpetual injunctions restraining UBA from further operating the account or using their corporate and personal data.
They also alleged that despite repeated letters and a formal pre-action notice issued through their lawyers, the bank failed to take decisive action or provide a satisfactory explanation.
However, UBA Plc denied all the allegations and urged the court to dismiss the suit in its entirety.
At the last hearing of the matter, counsel to UBA, Mr B. Nwokedi, informed the court that his principal was out of the country but willing to defend the suit, and he consequently sought an adjournment, which the court granted.
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