Banking Battle Explodes As Court Summons 16 Stanbic IBTC Executives

Justice Dehinde Dipeolu of the Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos, has directed 16 individuals, including senior officials of Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc, to appear before the court over alleged disobedience of court orders in a dispute involving Guaranty Trust Bank Plc.....KINDLY READ THE FULL STORY HERE▶

The order was issued during proceedings in Suit No: FHC/L/CS/1738/2024, filed by Guaranty Trust Bank against GY Farmers Ltd and other defendants.

At the resumed hearing on April 1, 2026, counsel to the plaintiff, A.B. Ogunba, SAN, informed the court of a pending contempt application dated March 27, 2026. He urged the court to compel the respondents to appear and explain why they should not be committed to prison for alleged willful disobedience of existing court orders.

Ogunba stated that all parties involved had been duly served with the required legal notices, including Forms 48 and 49, which are mandatory in contempt proceedings.

The application targets Stanbic IBTC Bank and several of its senior executives, including Yinka Sanni, Wole Adeniyi, Olubunmi Dayo-Olagunju, Olufunke Amobi, Olu Delano, Eric Fajemisin, Kola Lawal, Remy Osuagwu, Abubakar Sadiq Bello, Helmut Engelbrecht, Rabi Isma, Funeka Montjane, Simon Ridley, Remilekun Soyannwo, and Justus Ineanacho.

According to court filings, the dispute originates from preservation orders issued on October 25, 2024, which restrained the defendants from withdrawing or moving funds amounting to ₦806,393,894.38. Financial institutions were also directed to disclose any funds linked to the defendants.

However, the plaintiff alleged that despite being aware of the order, Stanbic IBTC Bank filed an affidavit on November 8, 2024, stating that only one of the defendants held an account with the bank and that the account had no funds.

This claim, the plaintiff argued, contradicts earlier communication from the bank acknowledging a lien placed on the account on November 4, 2024, which reportedly contained R8,736,661.91 at the time—information allegedly omitted from the affidavit.

Based on these discrepancies, the court had earlier ordered the attachment of the funds on February 24, 2026.

During Wednesday’s proceedings, counsel to Stanbic IBTC Bank, J.C. Iheanacho, told the court that the bank had filed counter-affidavits to challenge the contempt claims, insisting that no such funds existed in the account in question.

He also argued that the correspondence cited by the plaintiff was a routine banking communication and did not confirm the presence of funds, adding that a bank official was available in court to provide clarification.

Justice Dipeolu, however, maintained that the contents of the document were clear and did not support alternative interpretations.

Counsel to the second defendant, Adeyinka Olumide Fusika, SAN, raised concerns about fairness, urging the court to ensure all filings by the bank are properly served on other parties. He also criticised what he described as a growing trend of inaccurate affidavits by financial institutions.

Fusika informed the court of a pending application for a stay of proceedings but said he would not pursue it at this stage to allow the contempt matter to proceed.

In response, Iheanacho requested an adjournment, noting that additional counter-affidavits were being prepared.

After considering submissions from all parties, the court adjourned the case to April 20, 2026, and ordered all 16 individuals named in the contempt application to appear and justify why they should not face imprisonment.

The plaintiff is also seeking to lift the corporate veil of Stanbic IBTC Bank to hold its executives personally accountable, as well as an order committing them to a correctional facility until they purge themselves of the alleged contempt.

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