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Recent cases of bank face-off with customers are raising
more concerns about the rot in the banking sector in Nigeria. However, some of
these anti-banking and corrupt activities of top bank officials wouldn’t have
been possible without collaboration with some government institutions which are
used to fight dirty battles against the law.
This position seems to be validated in a curious twist
to the seemingly unending intrigues surrounding the insider trading accusations
against Sterling Bank on the Victory Park Estate Lekki by the Management of
Grant Properties and its subsidiaries.
The company petitioned the Lagos State Governor
Akinwunmi Ambode to call the Chairman, Lagos State Task Force on Land Grabbers,
Jide Bakare to order for embarking on activities they claim are against the
mandate of the task force.
The petition accused the Chairman of the State Agency
set up to regulate the menace of “Omo Onile” in Lagos, Mr Jide Bakare of using
the task force and the resources of the state to take sides in a case of a
business transaction involving Grant Properties, AMCON and Sterling Bank.
INTRODUCTION:
The Lagos State Task Force on Land Grabbers under the
Chairmanship of Mr Jide Bakare is allegedly being used illegally by Mr Lanre
Olaoluwa of Matrix Solicitors who is acting as the purported Receiver Manager
for Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) on the Transaction,to
harass, oppress and intimidate the management of Grant Properties in a case
involving the company and Sterling bank.
BACKGROUND:
The real estate company Grant Properties Ltd, took a
loan from a consortium of banks led by Sterling bank in 2003 to part finance
the development of a 50 hectares parcel of land in Victory Estate behind Femi
Okunnu Estate in Lekki. The banks claiming liquidity problems stalled the
project and the loan was subsequently transferred to AMCON in 2011.
In total breach of trust, Sterling bank withheld 10
hectares the land (the collateral) and sold it to one of its directors Mr. Yemi
Idowu who is also a real estate developer.
THE LEGAL BATTLE:
The case went to court in 2011 and for six years Grant
Properties and Sterling Bank were before justice AJ Bashua of the Lagos State
High Court. On 2nd of June, 2017, in the suit no LD/576/12, the court ruled
that the acquisition of the 10 hectares of land by Sterling Bank was illegal,
null and void. The court among other things also held that the sale of the land
by officials of Sterling Bank in person of Mr. Yemi Adeola, Managing Director
and Ms. Justina Lewa, Company Secretary was done single handedly without the
knowledge of the other banks.
This, according to the judgment, was due to the fact
that as at 10th February 2012, there was nothing like a consortium of banks
again to sell any land in Victory Park Estate because the loan had been
transferred to AMCON.
Having won the six-year legal battle, Grant Properties
wrote to AMCON on June 15 2017 to arrange the valuation of the 10 hectares of
land so that it can pay up its loan. That land has now been developed into an
estate called Cadogan Estate consisting of over 300 housing units. The property
is worth about 30 billion naira today.
Surprisingly, AMCON which is supposed to be the fair
arbiter in the case between Sterling Bank and one of its customer, rather moved
in Receiver Manager on the 16th June, a day after AMCON was notified of the judgment.
Lanre Olaoluwa the Receiver Manager swung into action by locking down the
offices and homes of the chairman and directors of Grant Properties. According
to the company they were all forcefully ejected from their homes since June
2017.
THE LAGOS STATE TASK FORCE AGENCY CHAIRMAN, MR JIDE
BAKARE’s CONNECTION:
Grant Properties said it has since gone to court to
challenge the appointment of a receiver/manager and to insists that AMCON
recognizes the court judgment and allow it to enjoy the fruit of its
judgment. In spite of this, the receiver/manager
Lanre Olaoluwa wrote a petition to the Lagos state task Force on Land grabbing
claiming that Grant properties sold land belonging to AMCON.
According to Grant Properties, based on this petition,
without first inviting them for questioning the Chairman of the company and his
children have been arrested twice by the Lagos State Task Force on the orders
of Jide Bakare. They were first arrested on 9th October 2017 at Goshen Beach
and on 7th December at the premises of the Federal High Court, Ikoyi.
The company is accusing Jide Bakare of being a willing
tool in the hands Lanre Olaoluwa. This according to the company was because the
second arrest came after Grant Properties had written to the Lagos Task Force
intimating the task force of the court judgment as the authentic owner of the
land. Thus, Grant Properties cannot be a land grabber of its own land.
Jide Bakare was
also notified that the Lagos High court had ruled that Sterling Bank actually
sold 10 hectares of land belonging to Grant Property with evidence that the
land was illegally sold to Yemi Idowu a former director of the bank. The Lagos
State task force was also notified of other pending court cases on the matter
especially the one challenging the appointment of a receiver/manager by AMCON.
However, Jide Bakare ignored all these information set
before him but choose to use the Lagos government agency and the police to
fight a cause that is not within its mandate of operation.
Background check according to Grant Properties showed
that Mr Lanre Olaoluwa (Receiver/Manager) was a former lecturer of Mr Jide
Bakare (Chairman Lagos Task Force) at the Lagos State University some years
back.
THE PUZZLING ROLE OF LAGOS STATE AGENCY IN A BANKING
TRANSACTION DISPUTE:
The involvement of a state government agency in a bank
transaction dispute has raised many questions hence Grant Properties’s petition
to the Governor.
According to the Petition, the Management of Grant Properties
had attempted to cooperate with the State Agency despite the fact that it could
not establish how the Agency could have jurisdiction but when it was clear that
the Agency’s Chairman was more interested in harassing and intimidating the
company’s personnel allegedly on the instruction Mr. Olaoluwa, Grant Properties
lost faith in the objectivity of the State Agency and petitioned the Governor
to call the Chairman to order.
THE EFCC ANGLE:
Grant Property said AMCON had previously tried to use
the EFCC against it by complaining to the commission, but quickly withdraws the
petition when the EFCC investigations turned its focus on Sterling bank and its
officers in a bid to get to the root of the matter. Grant Properties has since
formally sent a certified true copy of its judgment to the EFCC, CBN, SEC and all relevant agencies with
no avail.
CONCLUSION:
As at press time, the Chairman of the State Agency is
alleged to be pursuing all means to arrest and incarcerate the Grant Properties
management throughout the Christmas Holidays while all eyes are on the Lagos
State Government’s response to the petition.
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