Sterling Bank Sues House of Reps Over Customer Account Probe, Seeks Court Protection

Sterling Bank Sues House of Reps Over Customer Account Probe, Seeks Court Protection

The Federal High Court in Lagos has scheduled July 18 to hear a suit filed by Sterling Bank and its subsidiaries challenging the House of Representatives’ investigation into the accounts of two customers—Dr. Innocent Usoro and Miden Systems Limited.

The plaintiffs—Sterling Bank, Sterling Financial Holdings Company Plc, and top executives Yemi Odubiyi, Abubakar Suleiman, Lekan Olakunle and Dele Faseemo—are requesting a perpetual injunction to prevent the House and its Public Petitions Committee Chairman, Michael Etaba, from acting on a police report alleging financial misconduct involving the accounts.

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

Human rights lawyer Femi Falana (SAN), representing the plaintiffs, argues that the National Assembly has no constitutional authority to probe the bank’s dealings with its clients or revisit a consent judgment delivered by the same court in 2021.

The plaintiffs, citing sections 88 and 89 of the 1999 Constitution, want the court to stop the House from summoning their executives or acting on the police findings, which they claim are part of an effort to relitigate a settled matter.

The defendants, represented by lawyer Rowland Uzoechi, allege that the suit is a strategic attempt to block transparency and avoid accountability.

In a counter-affidavit, Dr. Usoro claimed that documents were falsified to support a non-existent $30 million loan transaction.

He said: “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suspicious inflows totalling over $122 million into Miden Systems’ accounts, with significant sums unaccounted for and withdrawn under questionable narrations.”

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Usoro further alleges that the court was misled into granting a Mareva injunction on the matter.

The bank and its affiliates, however, insist the accounts were handled legally under a commercial loan arrangement linked to a 2010 Shell contract awarded to Miden Systems.

The outcome of this case could significantly impact the legal boundaries of legislative oversight and the integrity of Nigeria’s financial institutions.