CaseLaw
UBN V. Ozigi (1991) CLR 4(c) (CA)
Brief
Facts
The case for the plaintiff in the court below is as follows:- The plaintiff had obtained a loan of N250,000 from the defendant in 1982 at the prime rate plus 2% per annum, that is, 11% per annum for the completion of the plaintiff’s hotel called Obongara Guest Inn and Restaurant Ltd. situate at Okenne. The plaintiff then mortgaged to the defendant his landed property at Oshochokodo Okenne covered by a customary right of occupancy No. OKLG/LAN/CRO/830 on which the Obongara Guest Inn and Restaurant Ltd, was built. The plaintiff has since 1982 made a total payment of N229,000 to the defendant out of the said loan of N250,000. In 1984 to 1985 the plaintiff could not make any payment as he was in detention being a civil commissioner in the government of Kwara State during the Second Republic, 1979 to 1983. On 30/1/88 the defendants demanded the sum of N353,632.09l in respect of the said loan of N250,000 and in respect of which the plaintiff had paid N229,900.33, and threatened to sell off the plaintiff’s Inn used as a collateral, which said Inn and Restaurant is now worth over N1.5 million. Out of the N20,000 monthly gross income he earns from the said Inn, staff salaries and maintenance cost take N16,000 and therefore he can now only afford to pay N3,500 as monthly installments. If the defendants were allowed to sell his property worth over N1.5M, it may be at a giveaway price to recover their purported claim of a little over N0.35M.
The defendant’s case was that the plaintiff, as at 15/4/88, owed the defendant N360,210.37, which represented the total sum advanced and accumulated interest charges and other incidental expenses in respect of which the plaintiff mortgaged his landed property known as Obongara Guest Inn and Restaurant Ltd. as well as a building situate at Inike in Okene covered by customary rights of occupancy No. OKLG/LAN/CRO/826 issued by the Okene Local Government. The said Deeds of Mortgage were registered as No. 29 at page 29 Vol. 20 as well as No. 40 at page 40 in Vol. 20 of the Land Registry at Ilorin. The defendant also averred that he was entitled to charge bank interest on the outstanding amount on the said loan at the rate from time to time stipulated by the bank as provided under Decree No. 1 of 1969 under which the Central Bank of Nigeria as the monetary authority regulates and notified the defendant the rate of interest to be charged on loans and advances which was notified to the plaintiff on 17/9/88. The defendant also relied on the Central Bank of Nigeria Credit Policy Guidelines for 1987 fiscal year as amended at 31/7/87, as well as letters to the plaintiff dated 17/9/87, and 3/3/88, including the letter on demand dated 13/1/88. The defendant called for the payment of the outstanding sum and the plaintiff acknowledged his indebtedness to the bank in its letter of 12/1/88 whereupon the defendant prayed that the plaintiff’s claim be dismissed. Olagunju, J., after taking and considering evidence led by the parties, on the 6th day of June, 1989 entered judgment for the plaintiff as per his claim.
The appellant Bank, dissatisfied with that judgment, appealed to the Court of Appeal.
Issues
Whether the learned trial Judge was right in holding that the rate of...