Supreme Court Dismisses Ecobank’s Appeals Against Honeywell

Honeywell Group has recorded another triumph against Ecobank Nigeria as the Supreme Court on Friday July 13 dismissed all three appeals brought before it by Ecobank in the ongoing dispute between the bank and Honeywell.

In a unanimous decision by the learned judges of the Apex Court, they ruled that Ecobank’s applications lacked merit. 

Delivering the judgment, the Justices reprimanded Ecobank’s lawyers for wasting the Court’s time by filing appeals which it described as frivolous, particularly in light of the myriad of critical matters before the Apex Court.

The Supreme Court also warned Ecobank’s lawyers against filing such applications in the future and awarded costs totalling N2, 500,000 against Ecobank.

Prior to the Supreme Court rulings, Ecobank had previously suffered defeat in its dispute with Honeywell at the Court of Appeal when the appellate court also ruled against it.

In a similar unanimous decision delivered by the Court of Appeal on March 30, 2016, the appellate court discharged the exparte injunctive/asset freezing orders obtained by Ecobank against Honeywell.

The Court of Appeal also affirmed the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court, Lagos to hear the suit filed by Honeywell against Ecobank whilst ordering accelerated hearing by the trial court.

It was these decisions by the Court of Appeal that Ecobank challenged at the Supreme Court.

But in the ruling last Friday, the Supreme Court held that Ecobank’s appeals were frivolous and the appeals were subsequently dismissed.