Lotus Bank lost ₦1.13 billion in a massive “rollback fix” system glitch and dragged 45 Nigerian banks to court.
NaijaOnPoint Nigeria reports that in a dramatic turn of events, Lotus Bank has filed a lawsuit against 45 Nigerian banks before the Federal High Court in Lagos following the loss of ₦1,133,808,604.31 to a system glitch that occurred on July 20, 2024.
According to court documents, the glitch described as a “rollback fix” error on the bank’s E-Bills Pay platform allowed 718 customers to make withdrawals and transfers without being debited, even though they had insufficient funds in their accounts.
Lotus Bank alleged that these customers knowingly took advantage of the technical failure to move money into accounts across several financial institutions, resulting in massive losses.
The bank has consequently dragged 45 banks, including Palmpay, Moniepoint, Opay, GTBank, Access Bank, Zenith Bank, UBA, Wema Bank, Kuda, Fairmoney, Polaris, First Bank, Stanbic IBTC, Union Bank, and Fidelity Bank, among others, before the court.
In its motion filed under Order 3 Rules 1, 6, and 9 of the Federal High Court (Civil Procedure) Rules 2019, Lotus Bank asked the court to determine whether, under Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) guidelines, the defendant banks were required to place a lien on the accounts that received the illegally transferred funds.
The bank is also seeking an order compelling all the defendants to reverse and remit the ₦1.13 billion wrongfully credited to their customers until the entire sum is recovered.
The motion was supported by a 19-paragraph affidavit deposed to by Gbenga Ojerinde, a Fraud Investigation Officer at Lotus Bank, who stated that the glitch was immediately reported to the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) the body responsible for ensuring interbank transaction integrity.
Ojerinde emphasized that the situation had led to “unjust enrichment” of some customers, arguing that only a court order could compel the banks to return the stolen funds.
Some of the defendant banks have already responded to the suit, while Justice Daniel Osiagor has adjourned the case until December 2025 for further hearing.