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Appeal Court gives FCMB 48 hours to deposit N540m defamation award in favour of Prophet Omale

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9 months ago

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The court of appeal in Abuja has ordered the First City Monument Bank (FCMB) to deposit “in an interest-yielding account” the sum of N540 million awarded to Prophet Emmanuel Omale, his wife, Deborah, and the church, for defamation.

Omale is the general overseer of Divine Hand of God Prophetic Ministry.

The money is expected to be paid into a bank account that will be opened by the chief registrar of the court.

In a unanimous decision, the three-member panel of the appellate court, led by Mohammed Shuaibu, directed FCMB to deposit the N540.5 million within 48 hours.

The court gave the judgement in the certified true copy (CTC) of its enrolled order dated February 2, 2024 and obtained on Sunday, February 4, 2024.

The appellate court gave the directive while granting a conditional stay of execution on the payment of the N540 million damages, pending the determination of FCMB’s appeal on the matter.

Meanwhile, the bank had appealed the judgment of Yusuf Halilu, a judge of a federal capital territory (FCT) high court, asking the court of appeal to set aside the verdict of the lower court on the payment of the sum.

The FCMB also asked the appellate court to stay the execution of the lower court’s judgment and restrain the Omales from taking steps to enforce the judgment in their favour.

After listening to the arguments of the parties, the panel granted the application as prayed in terms of the first prayer in the appellant’s motion, filed on November 3, 2022.

“Consequently, conditional stay of execution of the judgment is hereby granted to the Appellant. The condition being that the judgment sum shall be deposited into an interest yielding bank account of the Court to be opened by the Chief Registrar of this Court within 48 hours of the grant of this Order,” the ruling reads.

But dissatisfied with the judgment of the FCT high court, the FCMB, through Wale Olawoyin, its lead lawyer and senior advocate of Nigeria (SAN), filed a notice of appeal dated October 5, 2022, against the final judgment.

In its notice of appeal, the FCMB further argued that it would be highly prejudiced by any step to execute or enforce the final judgment as the action would render nugatory, its appeal before the appellate court.

According to the financial institution, “there is a real and high risk that it would suffer irreparable damage in the event that its application is refused and the appeal is successful.”

Opposing FCMB’s motion for stay of execution of the lower court’s judgment, Goddy Uche and Kanayo Okafor, the lawyers representing the Omales, argued that the bank’s application was brought in utmost bad faith to merely frustrate and delay without any justification.

“That the judgment appellant/applicant’s appeal has little or no chance of success in the light of the admissions and apologies and tacit acceptance of its negligence in this matter,” the plaintiff said.

“That in the alternative, we concede to a conditional stay of execution, for the appellant/applicant to deposit the judgment sum within 48 hours into an interest yielding bank account to be opened by the chief registrar of this honourable court, in any other commercial bank, except the judgment/debtor.”

In 2020, the Presidential Committee on Audit of Recovered Assets (PCARA) said Ibrahim Magu, the suspended acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), allegedly used a cleric to launder funds abroad.

Omale’s name was reportedly uncovered during an investigation of the EFCC’s activities by the Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU).

According to the report, the cleric bought a landed property worth N573 million in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on behalf of Magu.

The cleric, however, denied the allegations.

Reacting to the investigations, Adam Nuru, managing director of FCMB, said the bank made an error of posting N573 million into the church account of Emmanuel Omale.

On October 4, 2022, a federal high court, presided by Justice Yusuf Halilu ordered the FCMB to pay N540.5 million damages to Prophet Omale and his wife, Deborah, over a false claim that they laundered N573 million for Magu.

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Zenith Bank speaks on resolving system upgrade

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18 hours ago

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October 23, 2024 9:52 am

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Zenith Bank has announced the successful conclusion of its system upgrade.

In a message on Tuesday, Zenith Bank expressed gratitude to its customers for their patience during the upgrade process, promising improved services moving forward.

“Dear valued customer, thank you for your patience. We have successfully concluded the system upgrade, and you will experience improved services going forward,” Zenith Bank said.

Zenith Bank made a similar announcement on October 14, noting that it has upgraded the bank’s core information technology (IT) infrastructure after embarking on the system upgrade on October 1, with assurance that the downtime will last from 12:01am and 2:30pm.

“We have upgraded our core IT infrastructure to ensure you enjoy memorable banking experiences going forward,” the bank said.

“Perform your transactions quickly, safely and conveniently 24/7 with our digital banking channel(s) of your choice.”

On September 29, Zenith Bank informed its customers via various channels that its app would be automatically updated to a new version on October 1.

Following the development, the bank’s customers took to X to complain about their inability to access the financial institution’s mobile app.

Due to the technical issues and challenges faced by Zenith Bank customers, Spectranet had advised its subscribers to avoid making payments via Zenith Bank.

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Business

CBN not planning to revoke our licence, says Keystone Bank

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19 hours ago

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October 23, 2024 8:34 am

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Keystone Bank says the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has no plans to withdraw its licence.

On Tuesday, Hassan Imam, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Keystone Bank, said the clarification became necessary due to the constant spread of fake news, especially on social media platforms like WhatsApp.

In June, the CBN said it has no plans to revoke the licences of Unity, Polaris, and Keystone banks.

Online reports had claimed the apex bank would terminate the licences of the three banks, following the revocation of Heritage Bank’s licence.

Imam said the bank’s retail services remain strong, maintaining second place in the industry rankings and being recognised as the ‘Retail Bank of the Year’ in KPMG’s 2023 report.

“We wish to set the records straight that we are strong and have continued to grow our balance sheet while delivering exceptional value to our stakeholders,” the CEO said.

“We are actively pursuing legal action against those responsible for spreading fake news and are committed to holding them accountable.

“As a bank, we have continued to operate from a position of financial strength, consistently meeting our obligations as well as all regulatory requirements.

“Our retail banking services have also been recognised for excellence, ranking second in the industry according to the KPMG BICX 2023 Report, and the bank emerged as the ‘Retail Bank of the Year’ at the Africa Industrial and Development Conference and Awards 2024.”

Imam said the recent appointment of the board of directors by CBN, made up of experienced bankers and professionals from various fields, has further strengthened their governance structure.

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Swift Networks, Spectranet warn customers against using GTB digital platforms for payments

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19 hours ago

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October 23, 2024 8:28 am

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Swift Networks has warned customers against making payments for its services through any Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB) payment portal.

The company warned its customers not to use GTB USSD code (737), online banking, mobile banking, and bank transfers.

In a statement on Tuesday, the company encouraged customers to switch to alternative payment methods for an easy and quick experience, as the directive will remain in effect until further notice.

“This serves to inform our Valued customers to immediately discontinue making payments for your SWIFT services through any GT Bank Payment Portal (Including Bank Transfers, USSD Code (737), Online Banking, Mobile Banking etc) – until further notice,” SWIFT said.

“You can also make EASY and QUICK payments for SWIFT Services using any of the following Options:

“SWIFT Online Payment Options: Click https://bit.ly/34xSK9J to view our online payment options including: Quickteller, SWIFT Website, SWIFT App, Other Bank App (Excluding GT Bank), Mobile Banking App, Other USSD Code (Excluding GT Bank).

“(ii) Via Bank Transfer to our Access Bank account with details below: Bank: Access Bank: Account Number: 0041908015 Account Name: SWIFT Networks Limited.”

Swift Networks advised customers to visit www.swiftng.com, contact the company via Whatsapp: 08167002398 or send an email to customercare@swiftng.net.

The company also urged customers to download its app for transactions.

In a similar update, Spectranet advised customers to avoid bank transfers to both Zenith Bank and GTB due to ongoing technical issues.

Spectranet urged customers to use the company’s online payment options for a seamless transaction experience.

“Dear Customer, We encourage you to use our online payment options for your transactions for a smoother experience,” Spectranet said.

“Please avoid bank transfers to Zenith Bank and GTB at this time, as they are currently experiencing issues. Thank you for your understanding!”

On September 29, Zenith Bank informed its customers via various channels that its app would be automatically updated to a new version on October 1.

Following the development, the bank’s customers took to X to complain about their inability to access the financial institution’s mobile app for 48 hours.

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Bodex F. Hungbo, SPMIIM is a multiple award-winning Nigerian Digital Media Practitioner, Digital Strategist, PR consultant, Brand and Event Expert, Tv Presenter, Tier-A Blogger/Influencer, and a top cobbler in Nigeria.

She has widespread experiences across different professions and skills, which includes experiences in; Marketing, Media, Broadcasting, Brand and Event Management, Administration and Management with prior stints at MTN, NAPIMS-NNPC, GLOBAL FLEET OIL AND GAS, LTV, Silverbird and a host of others

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