A five-member panel of the Supreme Court, led by Justice Lawal Garba, on Friday ruled in favour of Fidelity Bank in its appeal against Sagecom Concepts Limited, bringing an end to a long-running legal dispute that has spanned more than two decades.
The apex court’s decision represents a significant legal victory for Fidelity Bank and provides definitive closure to a legacy case inherited from the defunct FSB International Bank, which merged with Fidelity Bank in 2005.
In a motion dated October 8, 2025, Fidelity Bank had approached the Supreme Court seeking clarification and consequential orders on key aspects of the judgment debt. The bank requested that the debt be payable in naira, that interest be calculated at 19.5% per annum rather than 19.5% compounded daily, and that the applicable exchange rate be that prevailing on the date of the High Court judgment, in line with the Supreme Court’s earlier decision in Anibaba v. Dana Airlines. Fidelity Bank also sought to have the judgment debt fixed at N30.19 billion, with interest accruing annually until full liquidation.
Delivering the ruling, Justice Adamu Jauro granted the bank’s first three prayers but declined the requests to fix the judgment sum and approve the proposed interest computation beyond the clarified terms. Consequently, the Supreme Court ordered that the judgment sum be paid in naira at an annual interest rate of 19.5 per cent, rather than on a daily compounded basis as earlier awarded by the High Court, and affirmed that the exchange rate applicable is that of the date of the High Court judgment.
Case Origin
The dispute arose from a 2002 credit facility extended to G. Cappa Plc by the former FSB International Bank and the subsequent enforcement proceedings linked to the transaction’s collateral. With this ruling, the Supreme Court has conclusively resolved the matter, confirming a significantly lower liability than the ₦225 billion figure previously speculated in some quarters and aligning with Fidelity Bank’s long-standing computation of its exposure.
