Court of Appeal Rules in Favour of Honeywell

 The Court of Appeal, Lagos dismissed the exparte order earlier granted against Honeywell Flour Mills Plc. in favour of Ecobank.

Justice Mohammed Yunusa of the Federal High Court, Lagos had granted an exparte order in favour of Ecobank against Honeywell on the 4^th of December, 2015. Honeywell thereafter proceeded to the Court of Appeal seeking to set aside the exparte order.

The Judgement of the Court of Appeal, delivered by Honourable Justice Abimbola Obaseki, set aside the ruling of Justice Mohammed Yunusa on the ground of abuse of Order 4 of winding up rules. Order 4 of winding up rules states that every application in court other than a petition shall be made by motion, notice of which shall be served on every person against whom an order is sought not less than five (5) clear days before the day named in the notice for hearing the motion. 

Also, the cross appeal by Ecobank against the ruling of Yunusa J. of 4^th December 2015 which granted limited access to Honeywell Flour Mills Plc to operate its accounts was also struck out.

The second appeal by Ecobank against Honeywell, challenging the jurisdiction of Mohammed Idris of the Federal High Court in establishing a customer banker’s relationship, was also struck out. The Court of Appeal stated that there is a banker-customer relationship between the parties. Delivering judgement, Honourable Justice Abimbola Obaseki ruled that Ecobank’s appeal lacks merit and stands dismissed.