The Supreme Court of Nigeria has ordered Fidelity Bank Plc to pay ₦225.3 billion in damages to Sagecom Concept Limited, an Ibadan-based company, following a years-long legal dispute over wrongful property sales.
The judgment, delivered on April 11, 2025, marks one of the largest financial liabilities imposed on a Nigerian bank in recent history.
The apex court upheld previous rulings that found Fidelity Bank guilty of contempt and wrongful sale of properties despite an existing court injunction.
Following the ruling, Fidelity Bank has entered negotiations with Sagecom’s legal team to structure a repayment plan.
However, insiders say the court’s demand for immediate compliance threatens the bank’s financial stability.
“This is the biggest crisis the bank has ever faced,” a senior official told People’s Gazette on condition of anonymity. “If the bank survives this, it will be due to the goodwill of the small business that won this judgment.”
Despite strong financial showings—including a ₦385 billion pre-tax profit in 2024 and a 140% surge in share price this year—analysts warn that much of Fidelity’s earnings are tied to rolled-over loans, raising concerns about liquidity.
No major financial institution has offered to underwrite the liability, and sources indicate the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) may have to step in to avoid the collapse of a major player in the country’s banking sector.
The case stems from loans issued by FSB International Bank to G. Cappa Plc in the early 2000s—$3 million and ₦100 million—secured with property collateral in Ikoyi and Ibadan.
Fidelity Bank inherited the loans and obligations after acquiring FSB during the 2005 banking consolidation.
When G. Cappa allegedly defaulted, Fidelity moved to seize and sell the collateral, ignoring a court order to halt such sales.
Sagecom Concept Ltd purchased some of the properties in 2007 for ₦350 million, only to later uncover a 2006 court ruling that barred any such transaction.
Sagecom, co-founded by Bamidele Ogunkanmi and U.S.-based Dakore Miriki, sued to recover its investment and damages, accusing Fidelity of defying court authority.
The case travelled through multiple court levels before reaching the Supreme Court in 2018.
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The apex court, in a unanimous ruling by a five-justice panel, affirmed Fidelity’s liability.
Justice Adamu Jauro, who delivered the lead judgment, said allowing Fidelity to escape accountability “would be tantamount to allowing it to benefit from its own wrong.”
Justice Jummai Hannatu Sankey described the bank’s actions as “a deliberate disregard” for the judiciary and Sagecom’s property rights.
The Lagos High Court initially ruled in 2011 that Fidelity owed Sagecom for loss of rental income from the seized properties.
That judgment was recently updated by Justice Olabisi Akinlade to $139 million—or ₦225.3 billion at the May 15 exchange rate of ₦1,620 to the dollar.
Fidelity is expected to challenge the final computation in a hearing set for May 19, but sources say any significant changes are unlikely.
The judge has stated that the final payout will reflect the exchange rate on the actual date of payment.
Fidelity Bank, Nigeria’s sixth-largest by assets and led by its first female CEO, Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe, has faced growing criticism for its aggressive loan recovery practices.
In a recent case, a Lagos family accused the bank of playing a role in a real estate investor’s death linked to a loan dispute.
While the bank has maintained its innocence and often blames regulatory pressure from the CBN for its hardline stance, the central bank has not publicly addressed the current situation.
Fidelity’s legal team, including prominent Senior Advocates Kanu Agabi and Onyechi Ikpeazu, has declined to comment.