Appeal Court overturns GTBank’s foreclosure of Abiola family’s mansion in Ikoyi

The Court of Appeal in Lagos has nullified the 2014 judgment of a Federal High Court that allowed Guaranty Trust Bank Plc (GTBank) to take possession of a sprawling N30 billion, 44-room mansion in Ikoyi, Lagos, belonging to Alhaji Agboola Abiola, son of the late Chief M.K.O. Abiola.

In a unanimous decision, Justices Paul Bassi, Polycarp Kwahar, and Abdulaziz Anka declared the foreclosure invalid, citing serious irregularities in the legal mortgage upon which GTBank had based its claim to the property.

Delivering the lead judgment, Justice Bassi ruled that the Federal High Court erred by failing to address credible allegations of forgery and document manipulation raised by the appellants.

He stated that the bank’s mortgage documents were riddled with discrepancies that undermined their validity.

The appeal, marked CA/L/888/2014, challenged the June 20, 2014 judgment of the lower court which had granted GTBank the right to enforce the foreclosure.

The appeal was filed by the appellants, RCN Networks Ltd and Alhaji Agboola Abiola, through their counsel, Dr Charles Adeogun-Phillips, SAN.

Central to the appeal was the authenticity of the tripartite legal mortgage presented by GTBank.

While RCN Networks admitted signing the deed, Abiola vehemently denied doing so.

He alleged that the execution page, which appeared to bear his signature, was lifted from an entirely different document and fraudulently attached to the mortgage deed.