Firm accuses UBA Plc of cloning signatures, opening and operating ‘illegal’ account

*The Management of EFFDEE Nigeria Limited, the plaintiffs, accuse United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc of breaching several regulations, including the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act, the Central Bank of Nigeria regulations, Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023, and the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act (FCCPA) 2018

Isola Moses | ConsumerConnect

Sequel to alleged infractions against the leading commercial bank, EFFDEE Nigeria Limited has accused the United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc of secretly opening and operating a “ghost” corporate account in a customer’s name.

The plaintiffs said the UBA Plc had used the unauthorised, secret bank account to channel over N5 billion, secured a N2 billion loan, and left the affected company’s Managing Director facing the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) interrogation for transactions he claimed he never authorised.

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The development has resulted in both parties getting entangled in a suit filed at the Federal High Court in Lagos.

It is Suit No: FHC/L/CS/775/2025 between EFFDEE Nigeria Limited and Mr. Fouad Anthony Aquad, Managing Director of the company, versus the United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc.

It was gathered the matter centred on breach of contract, negligence, breach of trust, identity theft, unlawful data processing, and violation of their constitutional right to privacy.

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The plaintiffs are now seeking damages running into billions of Naira, as well as declaratory and injunctive reliefs.

In the company’s statement of claim, EFFDEE Nigeria Limited has maintained only “a legitimate corporate account” with UBA since August 4, 2020.

The company also insisted it never applied for, authorised, or consented to the opening of any other account in its name.

The alleged infraction, however, became public knowledge January 2025, after the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), contacted the company’s Managing Director during a tax investigation.

The FIRS was said to have requested bank statements for “two UBA accounts” supposedly belonging to the company.

One of the accounts, numbered 1023232539; the plaintiffs stated, was completely unknown to the Management.

Surprised by the FIRS request, the plaintiffs claimed they conducted checks and discovered that a second UBA account, described in court documents as an “illegal account” had been opened and operated in the company’s name for several years without their knowledge.

Statements allegedly obtained from UBA showed that the disputed account recorded an opening balance of N2 billion, reportedly classified as a loan, and cumulative transactions exceeding N5.2 billion between 2020 and 2022, before being almost entirely drawn down. Further transactions allegedly running into hundreds of millions of naira were recorded between January 2023 and January 2025.

The plaintiffs maintained that neither of the company’s two Directors applied for the account, signed any mandate, submitted identity documents, passed any board resolution, or authorised any loan or transaction linked to the account.

They further alleged that the existence of the account exposed the Managing Director to law enforcement action by the Nigerian authorities.

According to the suit, the EFCC invited, detained, fingerprinted, and questioned Mr. Aquad, the Managing Director, between August and September 2024, over the transactions and a N2 billion facility allegedly linked to the disputed account, despite his insistence that he had no knowledge of it.

EFFDEE Nigeria Limited as well claimed that UBA unlawfully used confidential corporate and personal banking information obtained from its legitimate account to open and operate the second account.

The plaintiffs alleged that their identities were cloned, signatures and corporate resolutions forged, and mandatory Know Your Customer (KYC) and anti-money laundering checks ignored, allowing the UBA to operate the account clandestinely for several years.

They also alleged that while the purported illegal account was allowed to function without interruption, UBA Plc restricted the company’s legitimate account September 2024, on the ground of “incomplete documentation”, a development the company’s Management described as suspicious and indicative of serious internal control failures.

They further alleged that despite repeated letters and a pre-action notice issued through their lawyers, UBA failed to take decisive action or provide a satisfactory explanation.

How UBA breached multiple banking, consumer protection, data protection and BOFI rules

In the suit, the plaintiffs accused UBA of breaching multiple banking, consumer protection, and data protection laws, including the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act, Central Bank of Nigeria regulations, the Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023, and the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act (FCCPA) 2018.

They further contended that the bank’s actions amounted to an unlawful interference with their right to privacy guaranteed under Section 37 of the Constitution.

The plaintiffs thus asked the court to declare the opening and operation of the disputed account unlawful and to award damages running into billions of naira, including N3 billion in aggravated damages.

They also sought perpetual injunctions, restraining the bank from further operating the account or using their corporate and personal data.

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