EFFDEE Nigeria Limited and its Managing Director, Mr. Fouad Anthony Aquad, have dragged United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA) before the Federal High Court in Lagos over allegations of a “ghost” corporate account scandal.
The plaintiffs claim that the bank secretly opened and operated an account in their company’s name, channelled over N5 billion through it, and secured a N2 billion loan—transactions they insist were never authorized.
The suit, filed as No: FHC/L/CS/775/2025, accuses UBA of breach of contract, negligence, breach of trust, identity theft, unlawful data processing, and violation of constitutional privacy rights. The plaintiffs are seeking damages running into billions of naira, along with declaratory and injunctive reliefs to prevent further unauthorized actions by the bank.
EFFDEE Nigeria Limited has maintained only one legitimate corporate account with United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA) since August 4, 2020, insisting it never applied for, authorized, or consented to the opening of any other account in its name.
The alleged irregularities came to light in January 2025 when the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) contacted the company’s Managing Director during a tax investigation, requesting bank statements for two UBA accounts purportedly belonging to the company.
One of the accounts—account number 1023232539—was completely unknown to the plaintiffs. Alarmed by the request, the company conducted checks and discovered that a second UBA account, described in court documents as an “illegal account,” had been opened and operated in its name for several years without their knowledge.
Statements reportedly obtained from UBA indicate that the disputed account opened with a balance of N2 billion, allegedly classified as a loan, and recorded cumulative transactions exceeding N5.2 billion between 2020 and 2022, before nearly all the funds were withdrawn.
Additional transactions, amounting to hundreds of millions of naira, were said to have taken place between January 2023 and January 2025.
The plaintiffs asserted that neither of the company’s two directors applied for the account, signed any mandate, submitted identity documents, passed any board resolution, or authorized any loan or related transactions.
They also claimed that the existence of the account exposed the Managing Director to potential legal scrutiny.
The suit further stated that in August and September 2024, Mr. Aquad was summoned, detained, fingerprinted, and interrogated by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) regarding the transactions and a N2 billion facility allegedly connected to the disputed account, despite his repeated insistence that he had no knowledge of it.
EFFDEE Nigeria Limited has alleged that UBA unlawfully exploited confidential corporate and personal banking information from its legitimate account to open and operate a second, unauthorized account.
According to the plaintiffs, their identities were cloned, corporate resolutions and signatures forged, and mandatory Know Your Customer (KYC) and anti-money laundering (AML) procedures were ignored, enabling the illicit account to operate undetected for several years.
The company further claims that while the unauthorized account continued functioning without interruption, UBA restricted access to its legitimate account in September 2024, citing “incomplete documentation.”
The plaintiffs describe this action as suspicious and indicative of serious internal control lapses within the bank.
In their lawsuit, EFFDEE Nigeria Limited accuses UBA of violating multiple banking, consumer protection, and data protection statutes, including the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act, Central Bank of Nigeria regulations, the Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023, and the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act.
They also assert that the bank’s conduct constitutes an unlawful infringement on their constitutionally guaranteed right to privacy under Section 37 of the Constitution.
The plaintiffs are asking the court to declare the opening and operation of the disputed account unlawful and to award damages running into billions of naira, including N3 billion in aggravated damages.
They are also seeking perpetual injunctions restraining the bank from further operating the account or using their corporate and personal data.
They further alleged that despite repeated letters and a pre-action notice issued through their lawyers, UBA failed to take decisive action or provide a satisfactory explanation regarding the disputed account.
In its response, UBA Plc denied all the allegations and urged the court to dismiss the suit in its entirety.
At the last hearing, UBA’s counsel, B. Nwokedi, informed the court that his principal was outside the jurisdiction but was willing to defend the case, and he consequently applied for an adjournment, which was placed before the court for consideration.