Chief Festus S. Yusuf V. Co-operative Bank Limited (1994)
LAWGLOBAL HUB Lead Judgment Report
BELLO, C.J.N.
The Appellant was the plaintiff in the High Court, Benin City where he claimed from the Respondent/Bank as follows:-
“(a) A declaration that the plaintiff is not indebted to the Defendant in respect of the plaintiff’s account with the Defendant, a banker, at Ibadan, Oyo State of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and at Benin City, Bendel State of Nigeria.
(b) A declaration that the plaintiff’s accounts with the defendant at Ibadan and Benin City are in a credit of N2,211 ,956.35k made up as follows:
(i) Ibadan Branch ……………… N677,264.15
(ii) Benin Branch ……………… N 1,534.692.20
Total ……………… N2,211.956.35k
(c) An order for payment by the Defendant to the plaintiff of the sum of N2,211 ,956.35k due and payable from the Defendant to the plaintiff on the plaintiff’s accounts with the defendant at Ibadan and Benin City.”
The case for the appellant was that he was a customer of the respondent with which he had maintained two current accounts at Ibadan and its branch at Benin City from 1969 to 1971 and that the two accounts stood at credit balances as claimed.
The respondent admitted that the appellant had been its customer and it averred with respect to its Benin City account in paragraph 4 of the Statement Defence:
“The defendant shall establish that the plaintiff ceased to be a customer of the defendant when his account No.428 had to be closed in 1970 because the plaintiff failed to operate the account satisfactorily and there was no debt owing by the defendant to the plaintiff.”
However, the respondent denied that the appellant had operated an account with it at Ibadan.
In paragraph 7(2) of the Statement of Defence, the respondent also pleaded limitation of action as follows:
“At the trial of this action, the defendant shall in accordance with Order 22 rule 2 raise the following preliminary points of law-
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