Court rejects Falana’s lawsuit against CBN on sale of Polaris Bank

By Hannah Nathan, Warri

Chief Femi Falana, SAN, a rights activist, filed a lawsuit on Wednesday against a rumoured sale of Polaris Bank, but it was dismissed by Justice Lewis Allagoa of the Federal High Court in Lagos.

After the learned silk applied to withdraw the suit before the court, Justice Allagoa dismissed the suit.

Nigerian News Agency. According to NAN, Falana filed suit FHC/l/CS/87c/23 against Polaris Bank Nigeria Ltd., the Central Bank of Nigeria, and the CBN.

“Whether by the terms of section 42(2) of the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act 2020, and Public Procurement Act, 2007, the CBN might lawfully after reviving it for N1.3 trillion, sell Polaris Bank for N50 billion.”

Falana had so requested a ruling stating that the Public Procurement Act of 2007 is broken and that the CBN’s alleged Oct. 19, 2022 sale of Polaris Bank is unlawful.

He asserts that the Banks and Other Related Institutions Act 2020’s provisions are also broken by the alleged sale.

As a result, the plaintiff had requested an injunction to void the transaction of Polaris Bank.

On Wednesday, Falana made an announcement on his appearance in the case as both a plaintiff and an attorney.

The first defendant Augustine Okafor made an appearance, and the second defendant Mr. Olabisi Makanjuola did the same.

The federal government took over Polaris Bank, and Falana subsequently told the court that he wanted to withdraw and end the lawsuit.

As per his statement, the federal government has determined that the Polaris sale was unlawful and made the decision to seize control of the bank.

On that basis, he subsequently attempted to have the lawsuit withdrawn.