A Excessive Courtroom of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, has ordered the freezing of N7.15 billion linked to Parallex Bank Restricted.
In response to the court docket doc, the ruling follows a go well with filed by FHT Mega Specific Restricted over an alleged breach of belief and failure to honour a Letters of Credit score settlement.
Justice Hauwa Lawal Gummi granted the interim order, directing the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to sequester the funds in an interest-yielding account pending the willpower of a movement on discover scheduled for January 15, 2026.
The respondents within the case are Parallex Bank Restricted, the CBN, and the Nigeria Deposit Insurance coverage Company (NDIC).
What the doc is saying
The order stemmed from an ex parte software in Go well with No: CV/4737/2025, with Movement No: M15374/2025, granted on December 18, 2025.
The court docket emphasised that the funds have to be preserved to stop dissipation and safeguard the integrity of the dispute.
In a 49-paragraph affidavit filed by counsel to the applicant, Tolu Babalaye, Esq., FHT Mega Specific acknowledged that it deposited N7,154,677,000.00 into its account with Parallex Bank to ascertain Letters of Credit score valued at $7,310,257.99 for worldwide commerce.
Allegations in opposition to Parallex Bank
The applicant alleged that regardless of receiving the funds, Parallex Bank “failed, refused and uncared for” to subject the Letters of Credit score since 2023.
FHT Mega Specific additional accused the bank of buying and selling with its funds with out authorization or fee of curiosity, whereas failing to launch Payments of Lading for imported items. The affidavit claimed that the delay led to the Nigerian Customs Service auctioning the products.
The deponent acknowledged that the first Respondent has unjustly enriched itself on the expense of the Applicant, including that the bank’s conduct amounted to negligence and a elementary breach of mandate, in line with the affidavit.
The applicant additionally alleged that Parallex Bank later demanded extra funds to cowl overseas change differentials attributable to volatility within the FX market. In response to FHT Mega Specific, the demand was “a pretext to justify wrongful withholding” of its funds, because it had already offered the naira equal upfront.
Courtroom’s place
Justice Gummi, in granting the interim reliefs, held that the applicant had established a prima facie case warranting preservation of the disputed funds.
The court docket directed the CBN and NDIC, as regulators, to safe all sums attributable to Parallex Bank pending the listening to of the substantive movement.
The applicant undertook to pay damages ought to the order later be discovered to have been wrongly granted, stressing that the reduction sought was purely preservative and within the curiosity of justice.
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