Federal High Court upholds UBA receiver in N156 billion Stallion Group suit

The Federal High Court in Lagos upheld United Bank for Africa’s appointment of Romeo Ese as receiver/manager in a debt dispute with Stallion Group, while dismissing an objection by Barbedos Ventures Limited concerning rights to mortgaged property. The case centres on a debt UBA puts at N156 billion.

Justice Daniel Osiagor delivered the judgment on Friday, according to Premium Times. UBA says it extended credit facilities to Stallion Nigeria Limited in 2014 under terms that allowed other companies within Stallion Group to use the funds. The bank says the group did not repay the facilities and that the amount owed reached N156 billion.

Premium Times reported that the court found the parties’ reconciliation of accounts did not extinguish the underlying indebtedness. UBA also says Sunil Vaswani, Stallion Group’s chairman, personally guaranteed the credit facilities. Premium Times cited an affidavit by Anthony Chilaka, UBA’s group head of Recovery and Remedial Management Department, in describing that guarantee.

These details are the bank’s account of the lending and security arrangements; the reports do not provide a response from Stallion Group to those claims. The property issue involved Barbedos Ventures Limited, identified by Pulse as the suit’s 12th defendant. Nairametrics and Pulse report that the court dismissed its objection over proprietary rights to mortgaged property.

UBA said Barbedos’ consent was unnecessary for the mortgage. The reports describe the court’s ruling on the objection, but do not supply a separate account from Barbedos. The outlets emphasize different parts of the decision.

Premium Times describes the court’s reasoning on account reconciliation and the bank’s lending arrangements; Nairametrics foregrounds UBA’s account of the judgment and the property objection; Pulse adds that UBA is using Ese in a separate N61.45 billion claim linked to Western Metal Products Co.

TheCable and THISDAY headlines also report that the court upheld UBA’s receiver appointment, with THISDAY’s headline additionally referring to a bar on diversion of Stallion Group assets. The case follows credit facilities that UBA says it extended in 2014 and its claim that the debt remains unpaid.

Premium Times reports the bank’s position that the account reconciliation did not remove the debt. UBA’s stated recovery effort and the court’s ruling on the receiver appointment are the central documented outcomes; the reports do not detail the judgment’s full reasoning or set out a next hearing date.

The ruling leaves UBA’s receiver appointment upheld in this case and rejects Barbedos’ property objection, as reported by the outlets. Pulse says the same receiver is also pursuing the separate N61.45 billion claim tied to Western Metal Products Co.; the reports do not establish how that separate matter will proceed or provide a timeline for further action.