The Supreme Court has dismissed an appeal filed by the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) in its long-running legal battle with Suru Worldwide Ventures Nigeria Limited and its Managing Director, Edward Akinlade, over a disputed debt claim of N24.6 billion.
In a unanimous decision, the five-member panel led by Justice Uwani Musa Abba Aji held that the appeal marked SC/CV/865/2021 was incompetent, and accordingly struck it out after AMCON withdrew the notice.
“This notice of appeal, having been withdrawn for being incompetent, is hereby struck out,” Justice Abba Aji declared in the lead judgment, effectively ending AMCON’s recourse at the apex court on the matter.
The dispute traces back to 2011 when Suru Worldwide instituted an action against Oceanic Bank (now Ecobank) and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), accusing the bank of account mismanagement and alleging that a previously restructured N8.3 billion loan had been inflated to N24.6 billion without justification or further credit facilities.
Although the CBN was later struck out of the case, AMCON entered the fray in 2016, claiming to have purchased the disputed debt. Just two days after being joined as a party, AMCON filed a counterclaim against Suru and Akinlade seeking to recover the debt.
Both the Federal High Court and the Court of Appeal dismissed AMCON’s claims. The trial court ruled that the counterclaim was an abuse of court process, citing duplicative suits and a lack of declaratory reliefs in an earlier related matter (FHC/L/CS/218/2014). The appellate court upheld that decision.
Following these setbacks, AMCON proceeded to the Supreme Court in July 2021. However, its notice of appeal was found to be defective and was withdrawn.
AMCON was represented at the apex court by Dr. Joseph Nwobike (SAN), Kunle Gbolahan, and Samuel Onah, while Suru Worldwide was represented by Layi Babatunde (SAN) and David Owoeye. Ecobank had no legal representation at the hearing.
In response to the litigation, Suru Worldwide has served AMCON with a pre-action notice, demanding over N23 billion in special damages for the alleged unlawful occupation and destruction of its Best Western Hotel on Allen Avenue, Ikeja, Lagos. The hotel was reportedly seized in a 2017 predawn raid by AMCON agents and security operatives based on a court order that was subsequently overturned on appeal.
The company is seeking a court order to nullify any transactions arising from the seizure, an injunction against further interference, and compensation for financial losses and reputational damage.
