Kayode Tokede
Following out of court settlement with most of their customers, a total of 10 banks declared N8.9 trillion litigation and claims by customers in 2025, nearly 40 per cent drop from N14.83 trillion reported in 2024.
Analysis of the banks’ audited result and accounts for year ended December 31, 2025, showed that the litigations were related to alleged breaches of agreements, human omissions / errors, fraud related, among others.
Nigerian banks have over the years insisted that litigation instituted by customers do not have any impact on their financial positions stressing that provisions are made in case of unforeseen events.
The 10 banks investigated by THISDAY are: Access Holdings Plc, Zenith Bank Plc, Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO) Plc, United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA) and First Holdco Plc.
Others are: Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc, Fidelity Bank Plc, FCMB Group Plc, Sterling Financial Holdings Company Plc and Wema Bank Plc.
In the year under review, Stanbic IBTC Holdings declared the highest percentage increase in litigation, while Access Holdings saw its litigation cases drop significantly.
As Stanbic IBTC Holdings declared N2.39 trillion worth of litigation in 2025, about 807 per cent increase over N263.08 billion in 2024, Access Holdings announced in its 2025 result and accounts recorded N1.05 trillion litigation, which is 907 per cent drop from N11.3 trillion in 2024.
Stanbic IBTC Holdings said its litigation portfolio as at December 31, 2025 consisted of 456 cases and aggregate value of monetary claims at N524,953,490,875.75; $1,301,802,141.61. & GBP £1,556.07.
In 2024, the group announced litigation portfolio that consisted of 431 cases and aggregate value of
N263,070,555,801.17; $2,267,141.61 & £1,556.07.
“The claims against the Group are generally considered to have a low likelihood of success and the Group is actively defending same. Management believes that the ultimate resolution of any of the proceedings will not have a significantly adverse effect on the Group. Where the Group envisages that there is a more than average chance that a claim against it will succeed, adequate provisions are raised in respect of such claim,” the management of Stanbic IBTC Holdings explained.
In 2025, Access Holdings declared a significant drop in its claims and litigation to N1.05 trillion, about 90.7per cent drop from N11.3 trillion reported in 2024. The Group disclosed that it made an aggregate N8.63billion provision as at December 31, 2025.
“The Company is currently involved in two legal cases as a defendant. The total amount claimed against the
company is estimated at N1.05trillion (Dec 2024: N11.3 trillion). These claims are pending resolution, and as of the reporting date, the outcome is uncertain,” Access Holdings explained in 2025 result and accounts released to the investing public on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX).
It noted that it was involved in two cases and it has assessed the potential financial impact of these claims and based on professional legal advice, it is not possible to reliably estimate the timing or amount of any potential outflow of resources that may arise from these legal proceedings.
On its part, Zenith Bank declared N1.9 trillion worth of litigation in 2025, about 46 per cent increase over N1.3 trillion in 2024 while GTCO posted N502.96 billion in 2025, a decline of 9.7 per cent from N556.91billion in 2024.
GTCO said, “The Group in its ordinary course of business, is presently involved in 1237 cases as a Defendant (31 December 2024: 1051) and 503 as a plaintiff (31 December 2024: 466). The total amount claimed in the 1237 cases against the Bank is estimated at N485.34 billion and $12.32 Million (31 December 2024: N427.9 Billion and $83.96 Million) while the total amount claimed in the 503 cases instituted by the Bank is N380.2 Billion (31 December 2024: N201.89 Billion). However, the solicitors of the Bank are of the view that the probable liability which may arise from the cases pending against the Bank is not likely to exceed N10.41 Billion (31 December 2024: N10.9 Billion).”
The likes of UBA announced N2.5 trillion; Fidelity Bank, N491.8 billion; FCMB Group, N12.29 billion; First Holdco, N1.001 trillion; Sterling Financial Holdings Company, N57.4billion and Wema bank, N10.9 billion value of litigation in 2025.
Analysts however, expressed that litigations in the corporate world have increased significantly amid modern day business transactions, urging banks to strengthen compliance with provisions of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), among other stakeholders over the years had warned financial institutions and compliance officers to be diligent and avoid being complicit in financial practices.
