A court to hear Ecobank’s lawsuit against the son of Otudeko over the shares of the first bank in disputed April 15

The Federal High Court in Lagos has improved April 15, 2025, on the lawsuit hearing filed by Ecobank Nigeria PLC against Obafemi Otudeko, Director of the Honeywell Group and the son of the former Chairman of the FBN Holdings, Oba Otudeko, for the recognition of 6.31 billion shares in Bank First Nigeria (FB Nigeria.

The stock in question was bought by Barbican Capital Limited, an affiliation from the Honeywell group, which triggered controversy in the midst of the remaining legal disputes over the Supreme Court’s decision involving the Honeywell and Ecobank group companies.

Justice Deinde Dipeolu scheduled the trial after the former motion of the former party submitted by the Ecobank advisor, Kunle Ogunba, San. This movement seeks to hold Obafemi Otudeko and other parties registered from selling, transferring, or dealing with shares in any form until the problem is resolved.

Barbican Capital, Honeywell Flour Mills PLC, Silouam Global Services Limited, Foluke Oyeleye (Director at Honeywell Group), FBN Holdings, Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), and Nigerian exchange groups are all named as defendants together in the lawsuit, marked FHC/L/CS/638/2025.

In his calling, Ecobank asked the court to determine whether Barbican’s capital could legally obtain shares in FBN Holdings, although the Honeywell Group became a debtor in the Supreme Court case involving anchorage leisures Limited and other versus Ecobank. The bank also accuses that the registration and capital operation of Barbican is a step that is calculated to avoid the decision of the High Court.

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Ecobank’s advisor believes that the acquisition of 6.314 billion shares by Barbican Capital is executed using assets that must be subject to law enforcement actions, describing transactions as an effort to “thwart the implementation of the assessment.”

The written statement that was overthrown by Jafaru Kupa, a financial officer at Ecobank, supported the motion, along with the documentary exhibition and written address. Judge Dipeolu has instructed that the defendants were served and required to show the reasons why the order should not be given.

The court’s decision to determine the date of the trial followed almost a year of the high profile controversy about the ownership of FBN Holdings. Saga began on July 7, 2023, when the Honeywell Group told FBN Holdings that his affiliation, Barbican Capital, had acquired more than 4.7 billion shares – representing 13.3% of shares in the bank.

This acquisition marked a dramatic return for Oba Otudeko to the bank he had led, displacing billionaire investors Femi Otedola as the largest single shareholder. Oyedola shares were established at 5.57% at the time.

However, regardless of the acquisition, FBN Holdings’ Third-Quarter 2023 Financials continues to include Estitola as a majority shareholder, eliminating Otudeko and Barbican Capital from the list of the top shareholders-a reflection of the ongoing dispute.

Ecobank had previously accused Otudeko to divert the Honeywell Group’s assets to Barbican’s capital to protect them from upholding assessments. Otudeko, in his defense, denied making mistakes, on the grounds that the Supreme Court did not place the financial value of the verdict and did not personally named him responsible.

The agreement also attracted the supervision of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and triggered protests from the relevant shareholders at the FBN Holdings headquarters, with a warning plaque against the return felt by Oba Otudeko.

After months of the silence of the regulation, FBN Holdings officially registered Barbican Capital as the majority shareholder on February 1, 2024 – a step that can now be subject to a reversal depends on the court decision of the end of this month.

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