GTBank is unable to win the legal battle to acquire a luxurious mansion located in Ikoyi, Lagos, owned by Alhaji Agboola Abiola, son of MKO Abiola, the late. In the end, the Court of Appeal in Lagos was in his favor overturning a previous decision that permitted GTBank to take over the house.
The matter started after the bank claimed Agboola had defaulted with a loan and took this mansion to serve as collateral. In 2014 the lower court decided in favour of GTBank and granted it the authority to acquire the property. However, Agboola filed an appeal, asserting that the mortgage documents utilized by the bank were fraudulent.
In a recent decision The Court of Appeal agreed with Agboola. The court said that the documents showed evident signs of alteration. The page of execution was marked “11 of 17,” however, other pages were labeled “2 of 9” to “9 of 9.” This was deemed an indication of red flags, suggesting that the pages had been muddled or changed.
The judge decided that the fraud was a factor in making the mortgage ineligible. It vacated the judgment earlier and ordered each party to be responsible for their own legal expenses.
Flashback GTBank was hit with a similar blow in the Innoson Case
This isn’t the first time that GTBank is featured in news reports for the loss of a significant legal claim. In 2024 in 2024, in 2024, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Innoson Nigeria Ltd in a long-running legal case. Innoson was required to make payments of N8 billion in the wake of several years of legal disputes. This ruling was also about an undisputed loan as well as the manner in which the bank dealt with the loan.
Then back to the Abiola Mansion Case
The Ikoyi home, which is comprised of 44 rooms, has been an issue over the years. Agboola Abiola claimed that he had did not sign any mortgage agreement and alleged that the bank was seeking to seize the house of his family by using fraudulent documents.
The new decision means that this mansion remains with Abiola family members. Abiola family. GTBank might still be able to make an appeal to the Supreme Court, but for the moment, they’ve lost hold on the property.
