Justice Daniel Osiagor of the Federal High Court, Lagos has scheduled July 18, 2025, for the hearing of a suit filed by Sterling Bank Limited and its affiliates challenging the authority of the House of Representatives to investigate the management of funds in the accounts of two of its customers—Dr Innocent Usoro and Miden Systems Limited.

The claimants in the suit—Sterling Bank, Sterling Financial Holdings Company Plc, and senior executives, Yemi Odubiyi, Abubakar Suleiman, Lekan Olakunle, and Dele Faseemo—are seeking a perpetual injunction restraining the House and its Public Petitions Committee Chairman, Michael Etaba, from acting on a police report that alleged financial misconduct involving the customers’ accounts.

Also joined in the suit are Dr Innocent Usoro, Miden Systems Limited and the Inspector General of Police.

Filed by human rights lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN), the claimants argued that the National Assembly lacks the constitutional power to conduct investigations into the bank’s internal dealings with its customers or revisit a consent judgment previously delivered by the Federal High Court in 2021.

Citing Sections 88 and 89 of the 1999 Constitution, the claimants ask the court to declare that the House cannot summon their executives or staff, or take actions based on the findings of the police report, which they allege is being used to relitigate issues already settled by the court.

In response, the defendants, through their counsel, Rowland Osinachi Uzoechi, claimed the suit was a calculated attempt to obstruct justice and avoid scrutiny.

They argued that the questions raised by the claimants are academic and hypothetical, insisting that the court lacks jurisdiction.

The defendants further alleged that the claimants used fraudulent means, including the use of forged documents and questionable ex-parte orders, to secure a prior court judgment favourable to them.

In a 40-paragraph counter-affidavit, Dr Usoro (3rd defendant) alleged that the 1st claimant falsified documents to suggest a $30 million loan transaction that never occurred.

He claimed he was in the United States on the day the alleged documents were executed and that signatures of non-existent or unauthorised personnel were used in the process.

According to him, the Inspector General of Police’s January 2025 investigation report revealed suspicious inflows totalling over $122 million into Miden Systems’ accounts, with significant sums unaccounted for and withdrawn under questionable narrations.

Usoro contended that the bank’s actions were a deliberate scheme to launder money and that forged documents—including board resolutions, personal guarantees, and lease agreements—were used to deceive the court and obtain a Mareva injunction.

The claimants deny these claims and maintain that the accounts in question were lawfully managed under a commercial loan agreement linked to a 2010 Shell contract executed by Miden Systems Limited.

The case, which touches on issues of constitutional law, banking oversight, and public accountability, was also scheduled for a hearing on April 30, 2025.

Culled Guardian