FG drops $793m TSA suit against 7 banks, seeks out-of-court settlement

The Federal Government has dropped a suit it filed against seven commercial banks it alleged withheld the sum of $793.2 million in their custody, in breach of the Treasury Single Account policy.

The Federal Government filed the notice of discontinuance of the suit before the Lagos Division of the Federal High Court on Tuesday.

The notice dated August 7, was filed by the Federal Government in pursuant to Order 50 Rule 2 Subsection 1, Federal High Court Civil Procedure Rules of 2009.

Filing the notice, counsel to the Federal Government, Professor Yemi Akinseye-George, told the presiding judge, Justice Chuka Obiozor, that government decided to drop the suit and seek for an “out of court settlement” with the banks for public interest.

While counsels to the banks did not object to the notice, they maintained that the proper application is for the court to sack the suit and award cost against the Federal Government.

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The matter was however adjourned until tomorrow August 9, to decide if the court should strike out the suit or dismiss it, by Justice Obiozor.

The court had earlier granted an interim order for the seven commercial banks to remit a total of $793,200,000 million they allegedly hid in their custody in violation of the constitution and the Treasury Single Account (TSA) policy of the Federal Government.

However, when the issue came up in court on Tuesday, the Federal Government filed a notice to drop the case and settle out of court with the affected banks.

 

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