The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) have asked the Federal High Court in Abuja to decline jurisdiction in a suit filed by Aso Savings & Loans Plc and Union Homes Savings & Loans Plc challenging the revocation of their operating licences.
This is according to proceedings at the Federal High Court on Monday, where both regulators raised preliminary objections before Justice Emeka Nwite.
The legal dispute follows the CBN’s recent withdrawal of the mortgage banks’ licences, a move that has triggered liquidation steps by the NDIC and raised concerns over depositor protection and regulatory due process.
Counsel to the CBN, Onyeka Ezeah, and NDIC’s lawyer, Abubakar Shehu, told the court that the suit cannot proceed because the court lacks jurisdiction to entertain the matter.
Counsel to Aso Savings and Union Homes, Joseph Silas, told the court that the matter was scheduled for the defendants to “show cause” why the court should not restrain them from taking further action.
He argued that although the CBN revoked the licences, the affected institutions are entitled under the law to a 30-day window to challenge the decision, during which liquidation steps should be suspended.
According to Silas, allowing the NDIC to proceed with liquidation could irreversibly prejudice the plaintiffs if the court later finds the CBN’s action unlawful.
He urged the court to order parties to maintain the status quo pending the determination of the substantive suit.
However, both regulators opposed the request, maintaining that the NDIC is empowered to take over once a financial institution’s licence is revoked, primarily to protect depositors who can no longer access their funds.
Justice Nwite questioned whether it would be proper to grant any restraining order while preliminary objections challenging the court’s jurisdiction were pending.
Describing jurisdiction as a threshold issue, the judge said he would avoid embarking on an “exercise in futility” and adjourned the matter until January 21 for hearing of the defendants’ preliminary objections.
Aso Savings, Union Homes, and two shareholders filed the suit after the CBN revoked the institutions’ licences in December 2025, citing failure to meet minimum capital requirements, insufficient assets to cover liabilities, undercapitalisation, and non-compliance with regulatory directives.
In court filings, the plaintiffs argued that the CBN failed to follow due process under the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act (BOFIA) 2020 and that the NDIC moved too quickly to commence liquidation, thereby undermining their right to challenge the regulator’s decision.