Court Orders 9Mobile To Pay N55.8bn Debt Owed Keystone Bank

The Federal High Court in Lagos presided over by Justice Yelim Bogoro has ordered Teleology Nigeria Limited, owners of 9Mobile Network to pay the sum of Fifty-five Billion, Seven Hundred and Seventy-six Million, Five Hundred and Seven Thousand, Five Hundred and Nine Naira, Sixty Kobo (N55,776.507.509.60) owed to Keystone Bank Limited.

Justice Bogoro gave the order while delivering judgment in a suit filed on behalf of Keystone Bank by its lawyer, Bode Olanipekun (SAN).

Teleology Nigeria Limited allegedly failed to service the loan facility deployed towards financing its acquisition of strategic assets in Emerging Markets Telecommunication Services Ltd., doing business as 9Mobile Network.

Olanipekun had claimed that despite the bank’s offer of restructuring the loan facility, Teleology failed to meet various conditions precedent, operation conditions, transaction dynamics, as well as other conditions stated in the restructuring letter.

“Rather than receive payment on the defendant’s debt liabilities, the plaintiff received a presentation from a company called PAC Limited proposing, amongst others, a debt sale and acquisition by Bankruptcy Remote Special Purpose Vehicle in a proposed transaction structure akin to a conversion of the debt to equity without any immediate down payment or repayment of the outstanding huge indebtedness of the defendant,” Olanipekun said.

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Counsel to Teleology Nigeria Limited, Michael Aôndoakaa (SAN), in his counter affidavit, had urged the court not to deliver judgment in favour of Keystone Bank as, according to him, the Federal High Court lacked the jurisdiction to entertain matters relating to the Banker-Customer relationship.

However, in his reaction, Keystone Bank’s lawyer, Olanipekun prayed the court to discountenanced Aôndoakaa’s submissions, as there was no application for the arrest of the court’s judgment or an appeal against the court’s order adjourning the matter for judgment.

In its decision, the court held that the defendant’s application was akin to an arrest of judgment and that the said procedure was incompatible with the proceedings before it.

While holding that the defendant had no defence to the action, Justice Bogoro entered judgment in favour of Keystone Bank, ordering Teleology to pay N55,776.507.509.60 as the outstanding debt from the loan facilities granted to the defendant.