E-Financial
Zenith Bank Slammed with ₦85m Fine for Freezing Account on Invalid Court Order
A High Court in Abuja has awarded a fine of N85 million against Zenith Bank Plc for freezing a customer’s bank account by relying on an invalid court order.
Justice S. U. Bature, in a judgment, also ordered the bank to immediately unfreeze the account domicile in its branch at 63, Usuma Street, Maitama, opposite Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja.
Justice Bature directed the bank to publish a public apology to the customer, Abhulimen & Co, in two national newspapers and on its website.
The judge held that the bank acted on an invalid order made by a Magistrate Court that lacked the requisite jurisdiction.
Justice Bature further held that the decision of the bank and the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), the 2nd defendant in the suit, to freeze the customer’s account, based on a supposed order by the Magistrate Court, without notifying the said customer, was illogical and a betrayal of the banker-customers’ relationship between parties.
The judge said it was unfortunate that a major financial institution like Zenith Bank, with a Legal Department, supposedly manned by lawyers, would claim to have acted based on an invalid order by a Magistrate Court that lacked the jurisdiction to entertain any banking related case, including issuing orders for the freezing of a bank account.
The judgement was delivered on July 16 but its certified true copy (CTC) made available to newsmen on Thursday in Abuja.
Paulyn O. Abhulimen, SAN, trading under the name and style of Abhulimen & Co, had, in the suit marked: FCT/HC/CV/2194/2024, sued the Zenith Bank and NPF as 1st and 2nd defendants.
Abhulimen sued through the law firm of Kehinde & Partners LP, claiming that, in early 2024, after being unable to access the account of her firm, Abhulimen & Co, and make transactions with it, she discovered that the bank placed a post-no-debt (PND) on it.
She claimed to have subsequently contacted an official of the bank, who is in charge of the account, Obi Okafor.
She said Okafor told her about the development, following which the bank, in March 13, 2024 claimed to have frozen the account based on an order obtained by the NPF from a Chief Magistrates Court in Mararaba Gurku, Nasarawa State.
Delivering the judgment, Justice Bature said: “The said account was opened at the first defendant’s (Zenith Bank’s) Transcorp Hilton branch, here in Abuja, and the 2nd defendant (NPF) is also domiciled in Abuja.
“The rationale behind seeking the said order at a Magistrate Court under the Nasarawa State jurisdiction cannot be understood, and the 2nd defendant did not appear, to be able to give any explanation or reason as to why they decided to follow this line of action.
“The said Magistrate Court lacked the territorial jurisdiction to entertain the application.
“Regarding the substantive jurisdiction of the court to make the order, it is clear from the provisions of Section 251 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (1999 as amended), that matters relating to banks and banking transactions are within the exclusive jurisdiction of the Federal High Court, and matters relating to banker-customer disputes are jointly under the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court, State High Courts and High Court of the FCT,” Justice Bature said.
According to the judge, from the foregoing, it is clear that Magistrate Courts lack the jurisdiction to entertain an application for an order to freeze a bank account of a person, and should not have entertained the said application in its entirety.
“The legal department of the first defendant (Zenith Bank), being lawyers, should have been aware of this position of the law and taken the appropriate action in this situation, as they ought not to have obeyed the court order in the first place.
“Thus, the 1st defendant was wrong to have placed a PND on the account of the claimant based on the order of a court lacking the requisite jurisdiction to do so. I so hold,” the judge held.
The judge faulted the failure of the bank to inform the claimant about its decision to freeze her company’s account, describing it as a breach of the duty of care it owed to its customers.
Justice Bature said: “It is the humble opinion of this honourable court that, the first defendant owed the claimant a duty of care of duly informing her that her account had been frozen.
“The 1st defendant placed a post-no-debit on the account of the claimant’s firm, but same was not communicated to the claimant until she encountered difficulties in the use of the said account.
“It is the humble opinion of this honourable court that, the 1st defendant owed the claimant a duty of care of duly informing her that her account had been frozen
“The failure of the 1st defendant to inform the claimant of the state of affairs on her account amounts to negligence on the part of the 1st defendant and hence, a breach of duty of care and due diligence owed to the claimant. I so hold,” Justice Bature said.
Having found that the bank and the NPF acted unlawfully, the judge proceeded to declare among others, that an order to freeze a bank account cannot validly be granted ex-parte to last indefinitely.
He also declared that the Chief Magistrate Court of Nasarawa State, sitting at Mararaba Gurku, lacked the requisite jurisdiction to make an order to freeze the claimant’s Zenith Bank Plc’s account number: 1012272348, based on an ex-parte application.
“The defendants are hereby ordered to jointly and severally pay the sum of N60 million to the claimant as general damages for the embarrassment, psychological trauma, financial distress, emotional stress and grave inconveniences suffered by the claimant due to the defendants’ actions.
“The defendants are hereby ordered to jointly and severally pay the sum of N25 million to the claimant as cost of this action,” Justice Bature declared.
United Bank for Africa (UBA) has said that it has strengthened the security of transactions on its mobile application to stop fraudulent debits, unauthorised transfers and withdrawals.
Oliver Alawuba, Group Managing Director and CEO of United Bank for Africa
UBA announced this in a memo forwarded to its customers via email recently.
“We are pleased to inform you that we have further strengthened the security of transactions on the Mobile App.
“Updated authentication options now apply based on the value of transfers,” the memo reads in part.
UBA said in the memo that it had introduced authentication options for transactions of varying amounts to detect and prevent fraud.
According to the bank, transactions of N200,000 or more will now require customers to provide their Personal Identification Number (PIN) and a token number.
For transactions above N200,000 and N250,000, customers will be required to provide their PIN and a One-Time Password (OTP).
They can make use of their PIN and Biometric or PIN and Token numbers to authenticate such transactions.
Customers will be required to provide a PIN and OTP, or a PIN and Token number, when carrying out transactions between N250,000 and N500,000
For transactions between N500,000 and N10 million, customers must enter their PIN and Token to authenticate the transaction.
For transactions above N10 million, customers must use their PIN, Token, and Biometric to complete the transaction.
“The app will guide you, no need to memorise these thresholds,” the bank assured customers in the memo.
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), has said that it will be launching a new payment systems vision that will outline where the entire ecosystem is expected to be heading in the next three years.
Olayemi Cardoso, governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria
The vision was co-created with the financial technology players, the mobile money operators, payment service providers across the board.
This was announced by Muhammad Abdullahi, deputy governor, Economic Policy Directorate at the CBN, after the inaugural meeting of the Payment Service Providers Committee.
Olayemi Cardoso, governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, inaugurated the first meeting of the Payment Service Providers Committee, to reinforce policy coordination, knowledge sharing, and also ensure collective problem-solving by the industry and by the central bank.
The committee is being chaired by Muhammad Abdullahi, CBN deputy Governor, Economic Policy, and co-chaired by Philip Ikeazor, deputy Governor, Financial System Stability Directorate.
Other members of the committee include stakeholders from all the key payment service providers that are licensed to operate in Nigeria as well as a number of regulators, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
According to Abdullahi, the committee is expected to convene on a quarterly basis to interface with players in the industry, to ensure that they collectively solve some of the challenges that are facing the industry.
“The committee is to put Nigeria on the best footing forward in terms of payment system space. As we already know, Nigeria is a world leader in payment service provision.
“The kind of technology and fintechs deployed in Nigeria are far ahead of regional and continental peers. And what we want to ensure over the next five to 10 years is that we continue to maintain this leadership and be able to do much more for the Nigerian economy,” he said.
He stated that setting up the committee had become relevant with the remarkable growth trajectory seen in the digital payment landscape in Nigeria.
“In 2024 alone, the system processed over 11.2 billion electronic transactions, amounting to over N1.07 quadrillion. This is the first time that digital payments crossed the quadrillion naira threshold, representing significant growth.
“The momentum has continued. In 2025, we’ve seen significant growth, and of course, in the first few months of 2026 as well. This is an ecosystem that is significantly growing, that has significant implications for growth in Nigeria, for inclusive growth, for trade, and other significant positives for our country, he said.
The Deputy Governor, Financial System Stability Directorate, and co-chair of the committee, explained that the inaugural meeting, featured discussions such as preliminary issues around how participation is going to be, what the top-line issues are, and some of the committees that would be set up eventually.
He said, “What we intend to do is to be able to solve this in a much faster way. So in the past, companies would have to wait a significant amount of time to interface or lay their concerns to the central bank, and the central bank would have to do supervisory visits—on-site, off-site—to be able to carry out its responsibilities.
“But today, now, we have a platform that brings us all together, that has committees that are working towards specific mandates that can advance the payment systems space, you know, payment service provider space. So what we really have now is that a major bottleneck has been removed, which is the bottleneck of coordination, collaboration, and joint systems thinking”.
On her part, Foyinsolami Akinjayeju, chief executive officer of Enhancing Financial Inclusion and Advancement (EFInA), said that the inaugural meeting of the Payment Services Providers Committee was to ensure that innovation was not stifled.
She said, “The Payment Services Providers Committee will more importantly, allow for inclusive and sustainable growth through access, expansion, strengthening of trust to ensure that no segments of our economy is left behind”.
Also, Premier Oiwoh, managing director and chief executive, Nigeria Inter Bank Settlement System (NIBSS), lauded the initiative describing it as historic and a win for all Nigerians.
For Jay Alabraba, chairman, Association of Licensed Mobile Payment Operators, the initiative is a good one which will help sustain the nation’s growth through active participation of industry stakeholders.
Ghana becomes the first African country to integrate payment into its Citizens’ Identity Card, ditching US-based payment giants Visa and Mastercard in Africa.
The card is now widely accepted in over 190 countries for online, in-store, and ATM use.
It allows for secure purchases, international payments, and offers perks like insurance and emergency assistance.
Ghana Card holders can activate their card using the MyCitizens App or by dialling *402#
Recall that Ghana’s National Identification Authority (NIA), statutory body mandated to establish a national identification system, first announced in September 2025, that the card would allow users to make use of Automated Teller Machines (ATMs), make payments in stores and online, make international payments with over 200 countries, and access other services such as insurance and emergency assistance.
The NIA’s aim for developing this feature is to bolster financial inclusion within the country.
In Ghana, the credit card penetration rate was forecast at 0.6% in 2024 and was forecast to continuously decrease between 2024 and 2029.
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