Nova Bank Pursues Legal Action Against Firm Over $2.58m Debt
A commercial bank, Nova Commercial Bank, has urged a Federal High Court in Lagos to grant an order winding up Sunrise Products Limited over an alleged failure to liquidate a $2,587,891.21 and N276,567,150.63 debt allegedly owed to the bank.
The bank claimed that Sunrise Products Ltd, despite repeated demands by the creditor, which has also served the firm the statutory three-week notice under the Companies and Allied Matters Act, has been unable to pay the debt.
The petitioner made the winding-up prayer in a petition filed on December 19, 2024, by its lawyer Mr. Kemi Balogun (SAN), in suit No. FHC/L/CP/2357/24.
Nova Bank is seeking “an order granting leave to the Petitioner/Applicant to advertise the Winding-up Petition of the Respondent, Sunrise Products Limited, once in the Federal Government Official Gazette, one national daily newspaper, and other newspapers circulating in Lagos State.”
The bank alleged that there is “a real and imminent risk of the respondent dissipating and disposing of its assets within the court’s jurisdiction.”
It prayed the court to make other orders to preserve the debtor’s assets; otherwise, the judgement of the court in the suit, if given in favour of the Petitioner, would be rendered nugatory, and the Petitioner would be left with nothing.
Thus, the bank filed a motion on notice against Sunrise Products, joining the Central Securities Clearing System Plc and 21 banks, seeking to protect the Respondent’s assets.
The 21 banks are Access Bank Plc, Citi Bank Plc, Ecobank Nigeria Ltd, Fidelity Bank Plc, First City Monument Bank Ltd, First Bank Of Nigeria Ltd, Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, Jaiz Bank Plc, Keystone Bank Ltd, Polaris Bank Ltd, Providus Bank Plc, Stanbic Ibtc Bank Plc, Sterling Bank Plc, Standard Chartered Bank Plc, Sun Trust Bank Ltd, Taj Bank Plc, Titan Trust Bank Ltd, Wema Bank Plc, Zenith Bank Plc, Union Bank Of Nig Plc, and United Bank For Africa Plc.
In the motion on notice, Nova Bank asked for several reliefs, including “an order of appointing the Deputy Chief Registrar of the Federal High Court, Lagos, as provisional liquidator of the Respondent to take over and oversee the affairs and continuous running of the Respondent’s company pending the grant of the winding-up order.
“An order of interlocutory injunction restraining the Respondents, their Directors, members of Staff, Management, employees, officers, agents, privies, or any other person or group of persons whatsoever under the Respondent’s authority or any other authority (howsoever derived or sourced) from operating, withdrawing from, and/or otherwise tampering with the Respondent’s funds under whatsoever name or guise in the cited Bank or financial institutions pending the grant of the Winding-up Order by this Honourable Court.
“An order of interlocutory injunction restraining the Respondent, their agents, servants, and/or privies from tampering with, alienating, transferring, and/or otherwise dissipating or otherwise appropriating the Respondents’ fixed and movable assets howsoever described and called, pending the grant of the Winding-up Order.”
An order “directing the CSCS and the 21 respondent banks “to hold and disclose by way of an affidavit filed within five days upon being notified of the order of the Court, particulars of all assets, monies, real estate, stock, funds, bonds, cash deposits, bank guarantees, letters of credit, and all negotiable instruments in the name of the Respondents up to the sum of $2,587,891.21 and N276,567,150.63 being the outstanding indebtedness of the Respondent to the Petitioner as at 21st October 2024 pending the grant of the Winding-up Order,” was also requested.
Nova Commercial Bank informed the court that the grounds upon which the application was made include that the three-week statutory demand notice served on the Respondent has since elapsed, “yet the Respondent has neglected to pay or to secure or compound for same to the reasonable satisfaction of the Petitioner.
