Bank Shareholders Seek Compensation

Shareholders of de
funct Afribank Plc, Bank PHB Plc and Spring Bank Plc have urged the Court of Appeal, Lagos to order the compensation following the revocation of the banks’ licences by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) 1999.
They are praying the court to overrule a federal High Court judgement by Justice Charles Archibong (as he then was), which dismissed originating summon.
According to them, the defunct banks’ assets cannot be transferred free of charge to another entity without compensation to the shareholders.
CBN, Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Nigeria Stock Exchange (NSE) are the respondents.
Also joined in the appeal are, Mainstreet Bank (Formerly Afribank), Keystone Bank Limited (formerly Bank PHB) and Enterprise Bank Limited (formerly Spring Bank).
The appellants represented by Boniface Okezie, Adeymo Kehinde and Adebowale Bolanle, said Justice Archibong was misconceived when he validated the respondents’ action.
They said the respondents revoked the banks’ licences, transferred their assets free of charge to MainStreet, Keystone and Enterprise banks and delisted their shares from the exchange.
These acts, the shareholders said, were in breach of the law, motivated by malice and were based on inconsistent reasons not based on law.
They are  seeking damages, while urging the Appeal Court to uphold the appeal.
“The court is respectfully urged to allow the appeal and grant the relief sought on the originating summon..
“Damages should be assessed at the rate of the difference between the value of shares of the 9th (Afribank), 10th (PHB) and 11th (Spring) at the time of intervention of the CBN governor in the banks in 2009 and their nominal value of N1 per share which is all that the respondents would have left to their shareholders by their unlawful and malicios action, should the appeal succeed,” the appellant said.