Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Abuja has lifted freezing orders placed on the bank accounts of four defendants allegedly connected to a police investigation into a 2023 ₦21 billion system glitch.
The judge also faulted the police for failing to disclose important information when they obtained the earlier freezing order through an ex parte application.
The case is part of a wider investigation involving banks and financial institutions over billions of naira allegedly withdrawn from a Flutterwave account held at Wema Bank.
According to court documents, the disputed transactions occurred between October 12 and 13, 2023, following a system glitch on the Flutterwave platform.
The four defendants, through their lawyers, asked the court to cancel the restrictions placed on their accounts. They argued that the police had failed to disclose material facts required by law when seeking the freezing order.
They also pointed out that another Federal High Court had previously discharged similar restrictions placed on their accounts.
In his ruling, Justice Nwite held that a court order cannot remain in force where it was obtained on the basis of materially incomplete information.
The judge agreed that the circumstances presented by the defendants justified setting aside the earlier orders because the police had failed to disclose a previous ruling that had already removed the restrictions.
“The Court therefore finds that the failure to disclose the order of 2nd April 2026, which had discharged and lifted the restrictions affecting the Applicants’ accounts, constituted a material non-disclosure in the circumstances of the ex parte application.
“The subsequent procurement of an order imposing substantially similar restrictions without first disclosing and addressing the earlier order cannot be permitted to stand,” Nwite said.
Justice Nwite subsequently ruled that “the ex-parte Order made by the Court on 2nd June 2026, together with all consequential directives issued pursuant thereto, is hereby set aside and vacated.”
As a result, the court ordered the removal of all freezing orders, restrictions, liens, Post-No-Debit instructions and other encumbrances imposed on the accounts and properties of the four defendants under the June 2 order.
The Inspector General of Police had previously said that investigators arrested some suspected Point-of-Sale (PoS) agents allegedly involved in fraudulent transactions linked to the incident.
The police subsequently commenced investigations and legal proceedings against those suspected of involvement.
In a counter-affidavit filed before Justice Nwite, the police maintained that the four defendants “are among those whose accounts receive volumes of money from the incident that happened on the Flutterwave platform.”
However, lawyers representing the defendants argued that an earlier order issued by Justice Liman had already unfrozen their accounts and remained “valid” because it had not been appealed.
The lawyers accused the police of abusing the judicial process and engaging in forum shopping by seeking another order imposing similar restrictions without first disclosing the earlier decision.
The latest ruling therefore removes the restrictions on the four accounts while the broader legal dispute surrounding the alleged ₦21 billion system glitch and the transactions linked to it continues.
Discover more from LN247
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
