The legal dispute between Fidelity Bank Plc and Sagecom Concept Ltd resurfaced at the Supreme Court on Monday, as Sagecom asked the apex court to dismiss a motion filed by the bank seeking a review of a judgment debt allegedly amounting to N225 billion.
Appearing before a five-member panel of justices led by Justice Mohammed Garba, Sagecom’s counsel, Mr. Adeyinka Olumide-Fusika, SAN, urged the court to reject the bank’s application, describing it as “an abuse of court process.”
Olumide-Fusika, who led a team that included Muiz Banire, SAN; Chief Ayotunde Ogunleye, SAN; and Adeola Adedipe, SAN, argued that Fidelity Bank’s motion lacked merit and amounted to a veiled attempt to relitigate issues already decided by the Supreme Court.
“This application is unwarranted and a clear abuse of judicial process,” Olumide-Fusika told the court. “All the appeals arising from this matter have been dismissed up to this apex court.”
Fidelity Bank, represented by a team of senior lawyers led by Chief Wole Olanipekun, SAN, alongside Chief Kanu Agabi, SAN; Onyechi Ikpeazu, SAN; and Kemi Pinheiro, SAN, had filed the motion on notice marked SC/CV/602/2021.
The bank sought clarification on the quantum of the judgment debt and the applicable exchange rate for converting foreign currency judgment sums into Naira.
In the motion, dated and filed October 8, the bank requested the apex court to correct the computation of the outstanding judgment debt in line with what it described as “the extant position of the law.”
It proposed that the total payable amount should be N30.19 billion, including principal and interest as of April 11, 2025, a sharp contrast to Sagecom’s valuation of N225.28 billion.
“This application has been brought with every sense of responsibility,” Chief Olanipekun submitted. “It is not intended to taunt the court but to ensure clarity and compliance with legal principles.”
In its counter-affidavit, filed on October 23 and deposed to by its Managing Director, Mr. Samuel Miriki, Sagecom Concept Ltd maintained that the judgments of the lower courts and the Supreme Court were written “in plain English language” and required no further clarification.
The company dismissed the bank’s claim that the ruling compelled payment in foreign currency, arguing that no ambiguity existed in the judgment.
“None of the parties is ignorant of what the judgment stated and meant,” Sagecom said in its filing. “The claim that clarification is needed is a deliberate attempt to reopen a settled matter.”
Sagecom also challenged the deposition of Fidelity Bank’s Executive Director, Mr. Stanley Amuchie, asserting that the court’s decision was unequivocal and should not be revisited.
After hearing arguments from both sides, Justice Garba reserved ruling on the matter.
The long-running legal battle stems from a 2018 judgment of the Lagos State High Court, delivered on January 30, 2018, in suit number LD/1734/2011, which found Fidelity Bank and G. Cappa Plc liable to pay compensation to Sagecom Concept Ltd over unearned rent from residential three-bedroom flats at No. 23/25 Probyn Road, Ikoyi, Lagos.
Dissatisfied with the ruling, Fidelity Bank appealed to the Court of Appeal, which upheld the trial court’s decision. The bank then proceeded to the Supreme Court, which on April 11, 2025, dismissed the appeal and affirmed the decisions of the two lower courts.
Dissatisfied with the ruling, Fidelity Bank appealed to the Court of Appeal, which upheld the trial court’s decision. The bank then proceeded to the Supreme Court, which on April 11, 2025, dismissed the appeal and affirmed the decisions of the two lower courts.
With the Supreme Court’s final ruling, Sagecom became the judgment creditor, while Fidelity Bank and G. Cappa Plc were designated judgment debtors.
The current motion by Fidelity Bank represents its attempt to revisit the financial computation of that final judgment.
In May, Fidelity Bank confirmed a subsisting Supreme Court judgment involving G. Cappa and Sagecom Concepts Limited, adding that its computation puts the settlement figure at N14 billion.