A Federal High Court in Lagos has nullified the decision by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to dissolve the board and management of Union Bank of Nigeria, ruling that the regulator exceeded its legal authority when it carried out the action in January 2024.
In a judgment delivered on Wednesday, March 25, 2026, Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke declared the intervention unlawful, setting aside the removal of the bank’s leadership and invalidating all decisions taken by the CBN-appointed interim board.
The court directed that the previously removed board and management be reinstated, effectively returning control of the bank to its former leadership.
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It also restrained the CBN, its appointees and representatives from taking any further steps based on the dissolved structure, including actions tied to recapitalization initiated under the interim arrangement.
The case was brought by the bank’s core investors, Titan Trust, Luxis International and Magna International who challenged the CBN’s move, arguing that the dissolution and subsequent changes were carried out without due process and outside the bounds of the law.
The apex bank had, in January 2024, sacked the bank’s board and installed a new leadership team, naming Yetunde Oni as managing director/chief executive and Mannir Ubali Ringim as executive director.
With the ruling, all actions taken under that interim leadership have been voided, reinforcing judicial limits on regulatory intervention and restoring the authority of the bank’s original shareholders and governance structure.