A Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos has been asked to intervene in a suit filed by Lotus Bank Limited seeking to recover the sum of N1,133,808,604.31 allegedly withdrawn by hundreds of its customers following a system failure that affected the bank’s electronic payment platform in July.
In its motion on notice filed before Justice Daniel Osiagor, the bank alleged that 718 customers fraudulently withdrew and transferred funds exceeding their account balances after it experienced a system failure, codenamed a “system glitch,” on July 20, 2024.
According to the bank, the glitch resulted from a rollback fix on its E-Bills Pay platform, which temporarily disabled automatic debit processes.
The bank stated that during the system failure, the affected 718 customers made successful withdrawals and transfers even though they knew their account balances were insufficient to cover the transactions.
To recover the funds lost due to the system glitch, Lotus Bank dragged 45 banks before the court over what it described as a massive financial woe.
The suit, according to the bank, was filed pursuant to Order 3 Rules 1, 6 and 9 of the Federal High Court (Civil Procedure) Rules 2019 and under the court’s inherent jurisdiction.
The bank is seeking the determination of the following questions:
Upon determination of these questions, Lotus Bank is praying the court for the following reliefs:
The motion is supported by a 19-paragraph affidavit deposed to by Gbenga Ojerinde, a Fraud Investigation Officer with the bank, along with a written address and documentary exhibits.
Some of the banks listed as defendants have already filed their responses to the suit.
Justice Osiagor adjourned further hearing to December 2025.
In the affidavit, Lotus Bank averred that:
The bank stated that the court’s intervention is required to recover the funds and prevent the beneficiaries from unjust enrichment.