The Supreme Court of Nigeria has ordered Fidelity Bank Plc to pay ₦225 billion in damages to an Ibadan-based firm, Sagecom Concept Limited.
According to report, the Fidelity Bank Plc has entered negotiations with legal representatives of Sagecom Concept Ltd to arrange a structured repayment of a staggering N225 billion judgment debt.
However, sources say the urgency outlined in the Supreme Court’s ruling may limit the bank’s ability to stagger payments without facing a solvency crisis.
“This is the biggest crisis the bank has ever faced,” a top official said during a weekend video call, according to People’s Gazette.
“The obligation is simply too big. If the bank survives this, it will be thanks to the goodwill of the small business that won this unprecedented judgment.”
The insider, speaking anonymously, added that the judgment has shaken Fidelity’s top management.
However, despite closing at N20.80 per share on Friday and having recorded a 140% stock surge this year, Fidelity Bank’s financial position remains precarious.
While it declared N385 billion in pre-tax profits for 2024, officials admitted much of it was tied to rolled-over loans, raising doubts about its capacity to withstand the court-ordered payment.
No financial institutions have stepped forward to underwrite the liability as of Monday. One source familiar with Nigeria’s financial system said the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) might be forced to intervene to prevent the collapse of a Tier-1 bank amid a weak economy.Nigerian fashion
Both Fidelity Bank and its lawyers, including senior advocates Kanu Agabi and Onyechi Ikpeazu, declined to comment on the matter.
The legal battle stems from two loans taken by engineering firm G. Cappa Plc from FSB International Bank in the early 2000s: one in dollars ($3 million) and another in naira (N100 million).
The loans carried steep interest rates. Fidelity Bank acquired FSB and its liabilities during the 2005 banking sector consolidation.
After G. Cappa allegedly defaulted, Fidelity began seizing assets in Ikoyi and Ibadan that had been used as collateral.
Meanwhile, a federal judge ordered the bank to halt asset sales, but Fidelity ignored the order and proceeded to list the properties for sale — eventually selling some to Sagecom for N350 million.
Sagecom, co-founded by Bamidele Ogunkanmi and U.S.-based Dakore Miriki, later discovered a 2006 court-issued disclaimer prohibiting the sale. The firm sought to recover its funds, citing the injunction.
The case lingered through the Lagos High Court, Court of Appeal, and ultimately reached the Supreme Court in 2018. On April 11, 2025, five justices ruled unanimously in Sagecom’s favour.
Justice Adamu Jauro, delivering the lead judgment, wrote: “Allowing the appellant to escape liability as it so desperately seeks would be tantamount to allowing it to benefit from its own wrong.”
Justice Jummai Hannatu Sankey, in her concurring opinion, called Fidelity’s conduct “a deliberate disregard” for court authority and Sagecom’s rights.
However, the justices unanimously found no miscarriage of justice in the lower courts’ findings, thus upholding the original judgment.
The Lagos High Court had initially ruled in 2011 that Fidelity owed Sagecom compensation for years of lost rental income on the disputed properties.
Justice Olabisi Akinlade recently updated the award to reflect current values: $139 million or N225.3 billion, using an exchange rate of N1,620 per dollar as of May 15, 2025.
Fidelity is expected to challenge the final calculation during a scheduled court hearing on May 19, but insiders say changes are unlikely.
Justice Akinlade has already stated that the naira equivalent will ultimately depend on the official rate on the actual date of payment.
Fidelity Bank, currently led by its first female CEO, Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe, is Nigeria’s sixth-largest bank by assets.
Former presidential candidate, Peter Obi, once chaired the bank before becoming Anambra State governor in 2003.
However, the bank has long been criticised for aggressive loan recovery practices.
A recent case involved a Lagos family blaming Fidelity for the death of a real estate investor amid a loan dispute.
Despite maintaining its innocence in this case, Fidelity has often blamed regulatory pressure from the CBN for its tough loan terms.
As at the time of filing this report, the CBN has not commented publicly on the situation.
