Money Laundering: Sterling Bank Asks Court To Halt National Assembly, Police Probe

The plaintiffs in the suit: Sterling Bank, Sterling Financial Holdings Company Plc, and senior executives Yemi Odubiyi, Abubakar Suleiman, Lekan Olakunle, and Dele Faseemo—are seeking a perpetual injunction restraining the House and its Public Petitions Committee Chairman, Hon. Michael Etaba, from acting on a police report that alleged financial misconduct involving the customers’ accounts.

Also joined in the suit are Dr. Innocent Usoro, Miden Systems Limited, and the Inspector General of Police.

The plaintiffs, through their lawyer, Femi Falana, argued that the National Assembly lacks the constitutional power to conduct investigations into the bank’s internal dealings with its customers or revisit a consent judgment previously delivered by the Federal High Court in 2021.

Citing Sections 88 and 89 of the 1999 Constitution, the plaintiffs ask the court to declare that the House cannot summon their executives or staff, or take actions based on the findings of the police report, which they allege is being used to relitigate issues already settled by the court.

In response, the defendants, through their counsel, Rowland Osinachi Uzoechi, claimed that the suit is a calculated attempt to obstruct justice and avoid scrutiny.

They argued that the questions raised by the plaintiffs are academic and hypothetical, insisting that the court lacks jurisdiction.

The defendants further alleged that the plaintiffs used fraudulent means, including the use of forged documents and questionable ex-parte orders, to secure a prior court judgment favorable to them.

In a 40 paragraphs counter-affidavit, Dr. Usoro (3rd defendant) alleged that Sterling Bank falsified documents to suggest a $30 million loan transaction that never occurred.

He claims he was in the United States on the day the alleged documents were executed and that signatures of non-existent or unauthorized personnel were used in the process.

According to him, the Inspector General of Police’s January 2025 investigation report revealed suspicious inflows totaling over $122 million into Miden Systems’ accounts, with significant sums unaccounted for and withdrawn under questionable narrations.

Usoro contended that the bank’s actions were a deliberate scheme to launder money and that forged documents, including board resolutions, personal guarantees, and lease agreements, were used to deceive the court and obtain a Mareva injunction.

However, the plaintiffs denied the claims and maintained that the accounts in question were lawfully managed under a commercial loan agreement linked to a 2010 Shell contract executed by Miden Systems Limited.