Olisa Agbakoba Legal (OAL) is pleased to announce that it was part of the consortium of law firms led by Chief Wole Olanipekun SAN that achieved a major milestone in advising Fidelity Bank Plc to successfully reduce a judgment debt liability from ₦225,285,131,812.38 (equivalent to $138,250,265.40) to ₦13,592,967,174.11.

Background

Sagecom Concepts Limited obtained a judgment at the High Court of Lagos State on 30 January 2018 in a long-standing dispute with Fidelity Bank. Fidelity Bank appealed to the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court but was unsuccessful, and accepted liability. However, when Sagecom sought to enforce the judgment by demanding payment of judgment debt of $138,250,265.40 or its naira equivalent of ₦225,285,131,812.38, Fidelity Bank challenged Sagecom’s computation of the judgment debt, asserting the liability was wrongly computed.

Clarification Application

By an application filed 8 October 2025, Fidelity Bank, represented by a consortium of lawyers led by Chief Wole Olanipekun SAN, approached the Supreme Court to seek clarification on Sagecom’s computation of the judgment debt. In a brilliantly argued application, Chief Olanipekun SAN contended that despite Fidelity Bank’s acceptance of liability under the judgment, Sagecom was not entitled to the claimed judgment debt sum.

The Outcome

On 12 December 2025, the Supreme Court upheld the consortium’s arguments and issued a ruling that reduced Fidelity Bank’s judgment debt liability by over ₦211.69 billion—a substantial financial reprieve of approximately 94% for the Bank.