The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) has filed two lawsuits against Wema Bank Plc at the Federal High Court in Lagos, seeking to recover N125.38 billion linked to disputed Banana Island properties and an additional N401 million payment.
Acting as liquidator of defunct Gulf Bank Plc, NDIC alleged that Wema Bank unlawfully took custody of 12 high-value plots in Banana Island, Lagos, originally acquired by Gulf Bank through two shell companies.
The suits, filed under the Failed Banks Act, are part of efforts to liquidate the assets of Gulf Bank nearly 20 years after its 2006 collapse.
NDIC claimed that Gulf Bank used Euston Wenberg Engineering Company Limited to acquire six Banana Island plots between 1998 and 2003.
The 13,794.145 sqm property, spread across Zones J, K, L, and P, is valued at N62.07 billion at N4.5 million per square metre.
According to NDIC, Wema Bank held the properties as security for a N771.79 million interbank deposit.
However, a 2005 CBN/NDIC examination found no record of the deposit in Gulf Bank’s books.
NDIC further alleged that Wema Bank presented two managers’ cheques totalling N250 million in 2005 to purchase the assets, a deal NDIC calls commercially implausible, noting a single Banana Island plot was worth over N500 million at the time.
The second action targeted six other Banana Island plots acquired through Bacad Finance and Investment Limited, later Supra Commercials Limited.
Gulf Bank held over 80% of Bacad’s shares after injecting N80 million in 2001 and 2003. The 13,979.974 sqm land is valued at N62.9 billion.
NDIC alleged Wema Bank sold the properties for N524 million in 2006/2007 without a mortgage or court order, despite each plot being worth over N4 billion.
The suit also seeks N401 million NDIC says Wema Bank collected from its agent bank, UBA, in September 2009 without justification.
NDIC had earlier approved only N1.63 million as Wema’s outstanding deposit claim as of January 16, 2006, when Gulf Bank’s licence was revoked.
NDIC wants the court to declare any sale by Wema Bank null and void, order payment of N125.38 billion within 30 days of judgment, and recover the N401 million.
Alternatively, it seeks the return of all Certificates of Occupancy. The Corporation also filed a petition with the EFCC and cited investigations by Dada Awosika SAN, retired DIG Abiodun Alabi, and others.
Wema Bank, represented by Dr Oladapo Olanipekun SAN, Kehinde Ogunwunmiju SAN, and Tunde Afe-Babalola SAN, filed a preliminary objection.
The bank argued the suits lack a debtor-creditor relationship required under the Failed Banks Act, that claims are statute-barred after 20 years, and that the matter concerns property ownership outside Federal High Court jurisdiction.
It insisted it never had a credit facility with Gulf Bank and that the properties belonged to Bacad Finance, a separate legal entity.
The case was adjourned to June 25, 2026.
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