COURT RULES IN UBA’S FAVOUR IN N156BN DEBT RECOVERY CASE AGAINST STALLION GROUP

Federal High Court upholds receiver’s appointment, validates mortgage securities, restrains diversion of government payments

LAGOS — The Federal High Court in Lagos has ruled in favour of United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc in its N156.03 billion debt recovery dispute with Stallion Group and companies associated with the Vaswani brothers, upholding the bank’s appointment of a receiver/manager to enforce its security over mortgaged assets.

In a judgment delivered on Friday, October 16, 2026, Justice Daniel Osiagor held that the defendants did not dispute their indebtedness to UBA but challenged the amount being claimed by the bank.

The court upheld the validity of the mortgage arrangements, affirmed the liability of the guarantors and restrained the defendants from diverting payments due to them from government agencies.

The ruling marks a significant development in the protracted legal dispute, which began in 2023 when UBA initiated proceedings against Stallion Nigeria Limited and several affiliated companies over the alleged outstanding debt.

In addressing the issues raised by the parties, Justice Osiagor held that the reconciliation of accounts between the bank and the defendants did not extinguish the underlying debt or invalidate UBA’s right to enforce the securities provided for the loans.

The court also affirmed the appointment of Romeo Ese as receiver/manager, upholding his authority to take possession of the mortgaged properties and seek appropriate orders to protect the assets.

In a related decision, the judge dismissed an objection by Barbedos, the 12th defendant, which had challenged the mortgage arrangements on the grounds that its consent was required before the mortgages could be created.

Justice Osiagor held that Barbedos had failed to establish any proprietary interest in the mortgaged property and therefore lacked a legal basis to insist that its consent was necessary.

The court also resolved the jurisdictional challenge in UBA’s favour, affirming its authority to hear and determine the bank’s claims.

Furthermore, the judge restrained the defendants from diverting receivables due to them from government agencies, a measure intended to protect the bank’s recovery efforts and prevent the dissipation of funds that could be applied towards settling the outstanding obligations.

The court granted the reliefs sought by UBA, resolving all the issues submitted for determination in the bank’s favour.

The dispute dates back to October 2023, when UBA obtained interim orders from the Federal High Court to enforce its security over assets belonging to Stallion Nigeria Limited and its subsidiaries.

The affected properties reportedly included industrial and commercial assets in Lagos, Port Harcourt and Kano.

UBA had put the outstanding debt at approximately N156.03 billion, leading to litigation involving several companies within the Stallion Group conglomerate and their guarantors.

However, in November 2023, Stallion Group disputed the bank’s account of the debt controversy, maintaining that it had made substantial repayments and was engaged in discussions with the lender over account reconciliation and debt restructuring.

The proceedings also witnessed procedural disputes, including an application by counsel representing some of the defendants seeking the transfer of the case from the court of Justice Akintayo Aluko, who had handled earlier applications.

The latest judgment strengthens UBA’s legal position in its efforts to recover the outstanding debt through the enforcement of mortgage securities and claims against the principal debtors and guarantors.