Managing Director of United Bank for Africa, Oliver Aluwuba, alongside other senior executives at the bank, could be facing committal to prison.
The threat comes after UBA allegedly refused to enforce a binding court order to pay out a 7.4 billion Naira judgment to Mauritz Walton Nigeria Limited from Benue State accounts.
The High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, under Justice Bello Kawu, threw out an appeal and a motion for a stay of execution brought forward by the Benue State Government.
Justice Kawu reaffirmed established legal precedent: a pending appeal by a judgment debtor cannot stop a garnishee proceeding directly targeting the bank holding the funds.
Evidence before the court confirmed that Benue State maintains its FAAC Treasury Single Account with UBA.
While the account held 2.09 billion naira when the Garnishee Order Nisi was served on November 18, 2025, subsequent monthly allocations brought the balance high enough to satisfy the total debt of 7.44 billion Naira.
The court explicitly directed UBA to turn over the full judgment sum within 24 hours.
Despite the explicit ruling, UBA has reportedly failed to transfer the funds.
Speaking on the development, the Chief Executive Officer of Mauritz Walton Limited, Dr. Maurice Ibe, confirmed that the company has now formally triggered contempt proceedings to commit UBA’s top executives to prison.
Mauritz Walton’s legal team has also filed applications to attach UBA’s headquarters and various branches across Abuja, a move that could disrupt or completely shut down the bank’s operations within the FCT.
Furthermore, Dr. Ibe disclosed that foreign legal teams in both the United Kingdom and the United States have been instructed to track down and attach UBA’s international assets while reporting the bank’s actions to global banking regulators.
