Appeal court nullifies GTBank, takeover of Abiola mansion in mortgage fraud case

Court overturns mortgage judgment involving GTBank and RCN Networks over N30bn Lagos mansion owned by Agboola Abiola, citing forgery and legal discrepancies

[dropcap]C[/dropcap]ourt overturns mortgage judgment in a high-profile property case involving Guaranty Trust Bank Plc and RCN Networks Ltd, as the Court of Appeal in Lagos has reversed the earlier decision of the Federal High Court which led to the loss of a prime Lagos property.

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The case revolved around a 44-room mansion valued at ₦30 billion, belonging to Agboola Abiola, son of the late MKO Abiola.

In 2014, the Federal High Court had ruled in favour of GTBank, paving the way for the foreclosure of the property. That ruling has now been invalidated by a unanimous decision of the appellate court.

Agboola and RCN Networks Ltd had challenged the initial judgment under suit number CA/L/888/2014, arguing that the legal process leading to the foreclosure was flawed.

Central to their argument was the claim that the deed of tripartite legal mortgage used to secure the loan was not validly executed by Agboola.

Agboola denied signing the document in question, insisting that his signature had been fraudulently extracted from another document and unlawfully attached to the mortgage deed to include his assets as collateral.

Delivering the judgment on Wednesday, the Court of Appeal noted that the Federal High Court had ignored key discrepancies in the legal mortgage document.

The panel of three justices, led by Justice Paul Bassi, found that those discrepancies undermined the validity of the document registered at the Lagos State Land Registry.

Justice Bassi emphasised that courts must not base legal interpretation on documents whose authenticity is under serious dispute.

He stated that the lower court erred by limiting its focus to the content of the deed without resolving the issue of alleged forgery.

He observed that once allegations of forgery are raised, it becomes imperative for the court to establish the authenticity of the document before interpreting any clauses within it.

The appellate court concluded that the lower court had acted improperly by assuming the document was genuine. It therefore ruled that the trial court’s decision had no legal standing and could not be allowed to stand.

The judgment declared the foreclosure invalid and restored ownership of the property to Agboola Abiola. The appellants were represented by Charles Adeogun-Phillips, while Norrison Quakers represented GTBank.

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This landmark decision marks a turning point in the interpretation of contested mortgage agreements in Nigeria’s legal system.

Oreoluwa Ojelabi

Oreoluwa is an accountant and a brand writer with a flair for journalism.