By Correspondent in Abuja.
Sagecom Concept Ltd on Monday urged the Supreme Court to dismiss a motion filed by Fidelity Bank Plc seeking a review of a judgment debt said to amount to ₦225 billion.
Sagecom’s lead counsel, Adeyinka Olumide-Fusika, SAN, told a five-member panel of justices, led by Justice Mohammed Garba, that the bank’s application amounted to “an abuse of court process.”
Olumide-Fusika, who appeared alongside Muiz Banire, SAN; Chief Ayotunde Ogunleye, SAN; and Adeola Adedipe, SAN, urged the apex court to disregard the motion in its entirety.
Fidelity Bank, represented by a team of senior lawyers including Chief Wole Olanipekun, SAN (lead counsel); Chief Kanu Agabi, SAN; Onyechi Ikpeazu, SAN; and Kemi Pinheiro, SAN, filed the motion marked SC/CV/602/2021 after the Supreme Court had earlier upheld judgments of the lower courts in favour of Sagecom.
The bank, listed as appellant/applicant/judgment debtor, sought the court’s clarification on the computation of the outstanding judgment debt.
It argued that there had been disagreements between it and Sagecom over the correct amount due and the applicable exchange rate for converting the foreign currency component of the judgment to naira.
In the application dated and filed on October 8, Fidelity Bank asked the court to correct what it described as an error in computation and to apply the exchange rate as at the date of the trial court’s judgment.
The bank claimed that the total amount payable, including interest as of April 11, 2025, was ₦30,197,286,603.13 (Thirty Billion, One Hundred and Ninety-Seven Million, Two Hundred and Eighty-Six Thousand, Six Hundred and Three Naira, Thirteen Kobo).
Sagecom, however, disputed this figure, maintaining that the total judgment debt stood at ₦225,285,131,812.38 (Two Hundred and Twenty-Five Billion, Two Hundred and Eighty-Five Million, One Hundred and Thirty-One Thousand, Eight Hundred and Twelve Naira, Thirty-Eight Kobo).
In a counter-affidavit deposed to by its Managing Director, Samuel Miriki, Sagecom stated that the judgments of the lower courts and the Supreme Court were clear, unambiguous, and written in plain English. It contended that Fidelity Bank’s claim of confusion over the terms of payment was unfounded.
“The judgment neither compelled the bank to pay in foreign currency nor denied it the option of payment in naira,” Sagecom said, describing the bank’s motion as a “baseless attempt to reopen a concluded case.”
During Monday’s proceedings, Chief Olanipekun argued that the motion was not an abuse of court process but was brought in good faith “with every sense of responsibility.”
Olumide-Fusika, however, countered, insisting that Fidelity Bank’s application was frivolous, especially since all its previous appeals, from the High Court to the Supreme Court,had been dismissed.
After hearing both sides, Justice Garba reserved ruling on the matter.
Our correspondent recalls that the dispute began when the Lagos State High Court, on January 30, 2018 (Suit No. LD/1734/2011), entered judgment in favour of Sagecom Concept Ltd against Fidelity Bank and G. Cappa Plc over compensation for unearned rent from residential three-bedroom flats at No. 23/25 Probyn Road, Ikoyi, Lagos.
The Court of Appeal affirmed the decision, and the Supreme Court, on April 11, 2025, upheld the judgments of both lower courts, bringing the total compensation claim to more than ₦225 billion.
Edited by Dada Ahmed.
