United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA) has been sued before the Federal High Court in Lagos over allegations that it secretly opened and operated a “ghost” corporate account in a customer’s name, channelled more than N5 billion through it, secured a N2 billion loan, and left the company’s managing director facing interrogation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over transactions he says he never authorised.
In Suit No: FHC/L/CS/775/2025, EFFDEE Nigeria Limited and its Managing Director, Mr. Fouad Anthony Aquad, accused UBA of breach of contract, negligence, breach of trust, identity theft, unlawful data processing, and violation of their constitutional right to privacy.
The plaintiffs are seeking declaratory and injunctive reliefs, as well as damages running into several billions of naira.
According to their Statement of Claim, EFFDEE Nigeria Limited has maintained only one legitimate corporate account with UBA since August 4, 2020, insisting that it never applied for, authorised, or consented to the opening of any other account in its name.
The alleged wrongdoing came to light in January 2025, when the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), during a tax investigation, contacted the company’s managing director and requested statements for two UBA accounts purportedly belonging to the company.
One of the accounts — Account No. 1023232539 — was, according to the plaintiffs, completely unknown to them.
Alarmed by the request, the plaintiffs said they conducted internal checks and discovered that a second UBA account, described in the suit as an “illegal account,” had been opened and operated in the company’s name for several years without its knowledge or consent.
Bank statements allegedly obtained from UBA showed that the disputed account recorded an opening balance of M2 billion, said to be a loan, and cumulative transactions exceeding N5.2 billion between 2020 and 2022, before the funds were almost entirely drawn down.
Further transactions, allegedly running into hundreds of millions of naira, were said to have occurred between January 2023 and January 2025.
The plaintiffs maintained that neither of the company’s two directors applied for the account, executed any mandate, submitted identity documents, passed a board resolution, or authorised any loan or transaction linked to the account.
They further alleged that the existence of the disputed account exposed the managing director to law enforcement action.
According to the suit, Mr. Aquad was invited, detained, fingerprinted, and interrogated by the EFCC in August and September 2024 over the transactions and the alleged ₦2 billion facility, despite his insistence that he had no knowledge of the account.
EFFDEE Nigeria Limited alleged that UBA unlawfully used confidential corporate and personal banking information obtained from its legitimate account to open and operate the second account.
The plaintiffs claimed that their identities were cloned, signatures and corporate resolutions forged, and mandatory Know-Your-Customer (KYC) and anti-money laundering checks ignored, allowing the account to operate undetected for years.
They further alleged that while the disputed account functioned without restriction, UBA placed limitations on the company’s legitimate account in September 2024 on the ground of “incomplete documentation” — a move they described as suspicious and indicative of serious internal control failures.
In the suit, the plaintiffs accused UBA of breaching several banking, consumer protection, and data protection laws, including the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act, Central Bank of Nigeria regulations, the Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023, and the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act.
They also contended that the bank’s actions amounted to unlawful interference with their right to privacy guaranteed under Section 37 of the Constitution.
The plaintiffs are asking the court to declare the opening and operation of the disputed account unlawful and to award damages running into billions of naira, including N3 billion in aggravated damages.
They are also seeking perpetual injunctions restraining UBA from further operating the account or using their corporate and personal data.
They further alleged that despite repeated letters and a pre-action notice issued through their lawyers, UBA failed to take decisive action or provide a satisfactory explanation.
UBA Plc, however, has denied the allegations and urged the court to dismiss the suit.
At the last hearing, UBA’s counsel, B. Nwokedi, informed the court that his client wished to defend the case but was out of the jurisdiction, and consequently applied for an adjournment, which the court granted.
