The Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos, has ruled in favour of United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc in its three-year legal battle to recover outstanding debts allegedly owed by Stallion Group and its affiliated companies.
Justice Daniel Osiagor upheld the bank’s appointment of a receiver-manager, its mortgage security and the liability of the guarantors, granting the reliefs sought by UBA, according to a report by MoneyCentral.
The court also affirmed the authority of Romeo Ese Michael, the appointed receiver-manager, to take possession of the mortgaged property and seek protective orders to safeguard the bank’s recovery interests.
In addition, the court restrained the defendants from diverting payments due to them from government agencies, strengthening UBA’s efforts to recover the outstanding debt.
The judgment followed a suit filed by UBA in October 2023, in which the bank claimed that Stallion Group and its affiliates owed it ₦156.03 billion.
According to the report, the court held that the defendants did not dispute their indebtedness but challenged the amount owed. It further ruled that the reconciliation of accounts between the parties did not extinguish the debt.
The court also dismissed an objection raised by the 12th defendant, Barbedos Ventures Limited, which failed to establish proprietary rights over the mortgaged property. Consequently, the court held that its consent was not required for the creation of the mortgage.
The dispute began when Justice Akintayo Aluko granted UBA orders to take over assets belonging to Stallion Nigeria Limited and its affiliates in Lagos, Port Harcourt and Kano, while also freezing their funds across Nigerian banks.
Attempts by the defendants to overturn the orders were unsuccessful in December 2023.
The defendants in the case include Von Automobile Nigeria, Stallion Motors, The Honda Place and company director Sunil Vaswani.
Stallion Group has previously described UBA’s debt claim as “entirely false.” However, the company’s response to the latest judgment was not immediately available.
The ruling represents a significant development in UBA’s efforts to recover its exposure to the group and reinforces the legal framework governing secured lending and debt recovery in Nigeria.
The decision also underscores the distinction between disputing the amount of a debt and challenging the existence of the underlying obligation, as well as the rights of creditors to enforce valid security arrangements through duly appointed receivers.
UBA is also pursuing a separate recovery effort involving N61.45 billion linked to Western Metal Products Company.
The full written judgment and any subsequent response from Stallion Group were not immediately available.
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