The federal high court in Lagos has upheld the appointment of a receiver/manager by United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc to recover debts owed by Stallion Group, affirming the bank’s right to take possession of properties pledged as security for the loans.
The Stallion Group is owned by the Vaswani brothers.
In a judgment delivered on Friday, Daniel Osiagor, the presiding judge, ruled that the defendants did not dispute their indebtedness to UBA but merely challenged the amount claimed by the bank.
The court consequently 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 judgment represents a major development in the long-running debt recovery dispute, which began in 2023 when UBA instituted proceedings against Stallion Nigeria Limited and several associated companies over an alleged indebtedness of N156 billion.
In resolving the issues raised by the parties, Osiagor held that the reconciliation of accounts between UBA and the defendants did not extinguish the underlying debt or invalidate the bank’s right to enforce its security.
The court also upheld the appointment of Romeo Ese as receiver/manager, affirming his authority to take possession of the mortgaged properties and seek protective orders to safeguard the assets.
It further dismissed an objection by Barbedos, the 12th defendant, which had challenged the mortgage arrangements on the grounds that its consent was required.
The judge held that the defendant had failed to establish any proprietary interest in the mortgaged property and, therefore, had no legal basis to insist that its consent should have been obtained before the mortgage was created.
The court also resolved the issue of jurisdiction in favour of UBA, affirming its competence to entertain the bank’s claims.
In another significant decision, Osiagor restrained the defendants from diverting receivables accruing to them from government agencies, effectively preventing them from frustrating the bank’s efforts to recover the outstanding obligations through those payments.
All the issues submitted for determination were resolved in UBA’s favour, with the court granting the reliefs sought by the bank.
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 properties affected by the earlier orders included industrial and commercial assets in Lagos, Port Harcourt and Kano.
The bank had alleged that Stallion Group owed approximately N156.03 billion, a claim that became the subject of litigation involving several companies within the conglomerate and their guarantors.
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 over account reconciliation and restructuring.
The judgment marks a major milestone in UBA’s efforts to recover its exposure to Stallion Group and safeguard the interests of the Bank and its stakeholders.
