Access Bank and its top officials are involved in two legal actions arising from disputes over a loan. At the heart of the face-off is a property owned by Gbolahan Obanikoro—the son of prominent Lagos politician Musiliu Obanikoro—used as collateral for the controversial loan
The matter has garnered significant attention due to the high-profile individuals and entities involved and the nature of the allegations.
Criminal cases stemming from the dispute are pending before the Lagos State High Court at Tafawa Balewa Square and the Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos. One case, initiated by Mr Obanikoro’s complaint, targets Access Bank officials and others, while the other, based on Access Bank’s petition, is against Mr Obanikoro alongside other people and entities.
How it all began
In 2013, Mr Adegbenro, the CEO of Balmoral International Limited, requested a loan from Diamond Bank, which later folded into Access Bank in 2019, to fund a contract for the delivery orders for luxury vehicles.
Mr Adegbero executed the contract in partnership with Mr Obanikoro, who provided the property as collateral to secure the loan.
The property is at 40B Bourdillon Road, Ikoyi, Lagos, and the title is registered in the name of Mr Obanikoro’s company, M.O.B. Integrated Services, an energy company.
On 21 May 2013, the then Diamond Bank wrote to Balmoral, approving its request for credit facilities referenced AOB/BB/VO/AD/031/05/2013.
The loan sum is approximately N333 million, including N193 million finance facility, N120 million term loan, and N20 million import duty facility to be repaid within 180 days from the disbursement date at a 20 per cent interest rate per annum.
Mr Obanikoro said that in 2019, shortly after the loan was repaid, he had a “physical meeting with the bank representatives” to request his property documents.
However, he said Access Bank allegedly refused to release the title documents to him, only to tell him that the property had been used as security for another loan, which was unknown to him.
Afterwards, he filed a complaint at the Special Fraud Unit of the Nigerian police.
Obanikoro’s allegations against Access Bank
Mr Obanikoro alleges that Access Bank fraudulently used his company’s property, previously pledged as collateral for the initial loan, to secure another N1 billion loan for DDSS International Company Limited, owned by Mr Adegbenro, without his consent.
Access Bank granted the loan to DDSS on 6 May 2019 to “finance the purchase of different brands of new and luxury vehicles for sales to individuals and corporates” with a tenor of five years.
The loan approval was signed by Bukola Shoyombo, a relationship officer, and Oreoluwa Roy-Egbokhan, a relationship manager, on behalf of Access Bank. Mr Adegbenro signed for DDSS International.
In one case, the Lagos State Government, at the instance of Mr Obanikoro, charged Mr Adegbenro, Balmoral International Limited, DDSS International Company Limited and Bolaji Agbede, the acting managing director of Access Holdings. Access Holdings is the parent company of Access Bank.
In the indictment dated 7 October 2024, the defendants face four counts of stealing, conspiracy to commit a felony, and attempted theft.
Acting on Mr Obanikoro’s complaint, the prosecution accused the defendants of using his property to secure credit facilities without his consent.
They said the defendants, on 2 September 2013, at Plot 1261, Adeola Hopewell Street, Victoria Island, Lagos State, stole the property of M.O.B Integrated Services at Plot 40B, Bourdillon Road, Ikoyi, Lagos, by using it as a security for a loan without the owner’s consent.
The defendants were similarly accused of attempting to steal the same property by offering and granting DDSS International Company Limited a credit facility of N1 billion naira using the property as collateral, contravening section 21 of the state’s criminal law.
In November, about a month after the indictment was filed, the office of the Inspector-General of Police, acting on a petition from Access Bank, initiated charges against Mr Obanikoro, his firm, M.O.B International Limited, and Mr Adegbenro and his firms, Balmoral International Limited and DDSS.
During a hearing on 20 January of the case prompted by Mr Obanikoro’s petition at the Lagos State High Court, the judge, Ibironke Harrison, ordered the arrest of top officials of Access Bank, including its managing director, Bolaji Agbede, Mr Adegbenro and other defendants.
The state government’s prosecuting lawyer, Rilwan Uthman, applied for the bench warrant for the defendants’ arrest because they failed to appear in court despite being notified of the proceedings.
After granting the prosecutor’s request, the court adjourned till 24 February.
Also, the Federal High Court in Lagos has scheduled the arraignment of the defendants charged in the case prompted by Access Bank’s complaint for 27 February.
The defendants in the case are Mr Obanikoro, Mr Adegbenro, Balmoral International Limited, M.O.B. Integrated Limited and DDSS International Company Limited.
The police charged them with five counts of conspiracy, obtaining false pretences, fraud and false representation.
The indictment accused them of conspiring to fraudulently obtain N1.36 billion from Access Bank by misrepresenting their business operations and using falsified documents.
It added that the defendants obtained the N1.36 billion loan from the bank under the pretext of using the proceeds to finance the importation of brand-new cars from Dubai to restock their business. The prosecution said this claim was false, as the defendants allegedly diverted the money to personal use and benefits in contravention of section 16) (a) of the Advance Fee Fraud and other fraud related offences Act No. 14 of 2006. The offence is punishable under section 1(3) of the same Act.
Following the defendants’ absence from the 24 February proceedings, MoMoh Bello, the prosecuting lawyer, applied to the judge to order their arrest.
However, Joshua Abel, a lawyer representing M.O.B., opposed the prayer.
Mr Abel told the court that his client is a company and that it was served late. He added that most of the directors of the company were abroad.
The judge, Ambrose Lewis-Allagoa, declined to issue a bench warrant against the defendants, noting that there is no proof of service on the natural persons among the defendants.
He rescheduled the case for arraignment on 27 February.
