Court Mandates 9Mobile to Pay N55.8bn Debt Owed Keystone Bank

The court has issued an order requiring 9Mobile to settle its outstanding debt of N55.8 billion owed to Keystone Bank.

The Federal High Court in Lagos, under the leadership of Justice Yelim Bogoro, has ruled that Teleology Nigeria Limited, the owners of 9Mobile Network, must pay the outstanding debt of N55,776,507,509.60 to Keystone Bank Limited.

This decision was made during the judgment of a case represented by Keystone Bank's legal counsel, Bode Olanipekun (SAN).

Teleology Nigeria Limited reportedly did not fulfill their obligation to repay the loan used for acquiring key assets in Emerging Markets Telecommunication Services Ltd., which operates as 9Mobile Network.

Olanipekun asserted that even though the bank proposed restructuring the loan facility, Teleology did not fulfill the different conditions precedent, operational conditions, transaction dynamics, and other requirements outlined in the restructuring letter.

“Rather than receive payment on the defendant’s debt liabilities, the plaintiff received a presentation from a company called PAC Limited proposing, amongst others, a debt sale and acquisition by Bankruptcy Remote Special Purpose Vehicle in a proposed transaction structure akin to a conversion of the debt to equity without any immediate down payment or repayment of the outstanding huge indebtedness of the defendant,” Olanipekun said.

Michael Aôndoakaa (SAN), counsel to Teleology Nigeria Limited, argued in his counter affidavit that the federal High Court lacked jurisdiction to handle matters related to the Banker-Customer relationship, urging the court not to rule in favor of Keystone Bank.

On the other hand, Keystone Bank’s lawyer, Olanipekun, requested the court to disregard Aôndoakaa’s arguments, stating that there was no application for the court’s judgment to be halted or an appeal against the court’s decision to adjourn the case for judgment.

The court ultimately ruled that the defendant’s application was similar to an arrest of judgment and was not compatible with the ongoing proceedings.

In the legal proceedings, Justice Bogoro acknowledged that the defendant lacked a valid defense against the lawsuit. Consequently, a judgment was issued in favor of Keystone Bank, compelling Teleology to settle the outstanding debt of N55,776,507,509.60 arising from the loan facilities extended to the defendant.