Court of Appeal Nullifies GTBank’s ₦30bn Mansion Foreclosure Over Forged Mortgage
The Lagos Division of the Court of Appeal has overturned a 2013 judgment of the Federal High Court in a case involving RCN Networks Ltd and Guaranty Trust Bank PLC (GTBank), effectively voiding the bank’s foreclosure on a ₦30 billion mansion.
In a unanimous ruling delivered in Appeal No. CA/L/888/2014, the appellate court found that GTBank’s foreclosure on the 44-room property, located in Lagos and owned by Alhaji Agboola Abiola—son of late business mogul and June 12 presidential election winner, Bashorun M.K.O. Abiola—was based on a defective legal mortgage.
The Court of Appeal determined that the trial court had overlooked serious irregularities in the tripartite legal mortgage document registered by the bank at the Lagos State Land Registry. Most notably, the document lacked the signature of the purported mortgagor, Alhaji Abiola, and included handwritten alterations at the footer of the final page—markings not found on other pages of the same document.
These discrepancies, the court held, raised doubts about the document’s authenticity and nullified the bank’s legal claim to the property.
In its final decision, the appellate court set aside all legal encumbrances placed on the mansion by GTBank and ruled in favour of the appellant, RCN Networks Ltd.
Dr. Charles Adeogun-Phillips, SAN, led the legal team for the appellant, while Mr. Norrison Quakers, SAN, represented the respondent, GTBank.
