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The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, has constituted a high-powered legal team of Senior Advocates of Nigeria, SANs, to challenge the judgment of the Federal High Court in Lagos which nullified its takeover of Union Bank of Nigeria Plc and ordered the reinstatement of the bank’s former board.
The apex bank, in a notice of appeal filed on March 26, 2026, is contesting the March 25 judgment delivered by Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke, which held that the CBN acted beyond its statutory powers in dissolving the bank’s board and management.
The CBN, in its appeal, raised 11 grounds urging the appellate court to set aside the entire decision of the lower court.
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It argued that its intervention in Union Bank was backed by provisions of the Central Bank of Nigeria Act and the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act (BOFIA) 2020, citing the bank’s deteriorating financial condition at the time.
According to the apex bank, evidence before the trial court showed that Union Bank had a negative capital adequacy ratio, a capital shortfall exceeding N224 billion, and a high volume of non-performing loans, necessitating urgent regulatory action.
The CBN maintained that under Section 34 of BOFIA, it has the power to remove directors and officers of a distressed bank, while Section 51 protects actions taken in good faith in the course of its statutory duties.
It faulted the trial court’s interpretation of these provisions, describing the judgment as a miscarriage of justice.
The apex bank further contended that the court erred in declaring its actions unlawful, ultra vires and unconstitutional, as well as nullifying decisions taken by the management it appointed without establishing any legal basis for reinstating the former board.
Meanwhile, the CBN has filed a motion on notice seeking a stay of execution of the judgment pending the determination of the appeal.
In the application, it urged the court to restrain the reinstated directors and other respondents from taking control of the bank, interfering with its management, convening meetings, or altering its governance structure.
It also sought an order preventing actions, including media engagements, that could destabilise the bank, and asked that all parties maintain the status quo pending the outcome of the appeal.
The respondents in the matter include Titan Trust Bank Limited, Luxis International DMCC, Magna International DMCC, as well as former directors of Union Bank such as Bayo Adeleke and Yetunde Oni.
They had approached the Federal High Court as beneficiaries of Union Bank shares, challenging the CBN’s intervention in the bank.
In an affidavit supporting its application for stay, the CBN warned that enforcing the judgment could disrupt the bank’s operations, weaken public confidence, and pose systemic risks to the financial sector.
It stressed that the appeal raises critical questions on the scope of its regulatory powers and argued that failure to grant a stay could render the appeal nugatory.
The apex bank added that maintaining the status quo is essential to preserving stability in the banking system while the appellate court determines the issues, which it said have far-reaching implications for banking regulation in Nigeria.
Anambra State Governor Chukwuma Soludo ordered the immediate suspension without pay of civil servants found absent from their duty posts by 10 a.m. Thursday, following an unannounced inspection of the Jerome Udorji Secretariat in Awka that exposed widespread absenteeism across multiple ministries and departments.
A video shared by the state government’s new media team showed Soludo moving through several offices, visibly displeased as he queried officials present and demanded explanations for absent colleagues. The unscheduled nature of the visit caught many workers off guard and caused disruption across a number of departments.
“I walked in, office by office, and there are quite a significant number of workers who are not yet at work as of 10 a.m. This is unacceptable,” the governor told journalists after completing his walkthrough. He described what he found as a mixture of “the good, the bad and the ugly,” commending diligent staff whose conduct he said formed the backbone of the state’s public service while making clear that chronic absenteeism and poor timekeeping would no longer be tolerated.
“By 10 a.m., if they are not in their seats, we don’t need them,” Soludo declared, adding that underperforming staff whom he described as “bad eggs” would be removed from the service entirely. “Anambra is an A-state and cannot afford an inefficient civil service.”
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The suspension order applies to any worker not physically present at their assigned post by the 10 a.m. threshold. Those suspended will forfeit their salaries for the duration of the penalty. Soludo said the directorate would take firm measures to address what he characterized as endemic indiscipline, and he reiterated a warning that the era of what he called “lacklustre performance and entitlement” in Anambra’s civil service was over.
The governor framed the crackdown as part of a broader three-pillar reform agenda his administration intends to enforce across the state bureaucracy. The first component involves transitioning government workflows from paper-based to digital processes to improve speed and reduce opacity. The second centers on rigorous performance tracking, with supervisors held accountable for monitoring staff conduct and output. The third concerns the continued physical improvement of secretariat facilities, an investment Soludo said already made but which he argued workers had failed to reciprocate with commensurate productivity. “The government had invested significantly in improving infrastructure and working conditions at the secretariat. Workers should reciprocate with dedication and productivity,” he said.
