Reported by: Oahimire Omone Precious | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
The Federal High Court in Abuja has dismissed a ₦7.1 billion suit filed by FHT Mega Express Limited against Parallex Bank Limited, describing the action as a clear abuse of court process and awarding a cost of ₦500,000 in favour of the bank. Justice Hauwa Gummi, in a ruling delivered on 20 April 2026, held that the logistics firm engaged in forum shopping — the practice of filing the same case in different courts to obtain a favourable outcome — and deliberately concealed material facts from the court, including the existence of an earlier suit and a subsisting status quo order. The court consequently dismissed the suit in its entirety, vacated a prior freezing order that had paralysed the bank’s funds, and directed FHT Mega Express to pay the cost, underscoring the judiciary’s intolerance of procedural abuse in commercial disputes.
The ruling was the culmination of a contentious legal battle that began on 4 September 2025, when Parallex Bank filed a suit at the Federal High Court in Lagos, marked FHC/L/CS/1774/2025, seeking to recover an alleged indebtedness of ₦4.5 billion from FHT Mega Express. The debt, according to the bank, arose from letters of credit issued to finance import transactions valued in millions of euros. Justice Lewis Allagoa of the Lagos Federal High Court ordered all parties to maintain the status quo pending the determination of the substantive matter. However, rather than litigate the dispute in Lagos, FHT Mega Express embarked on a strategic legal manoeuvre that the court would later condemn as an abusive exploitation of the judicial system.
Court documents and affidavits filed by Parallex Bank detailed the logistics firm’s alleged forum‑shopping tactics. The bank told the Abuja court that FHT Mega Express had first approached the Lagos State High Court at Tafawa Balewa Square with a nearly identical claim, seeking an ex parte order to freeze the bank’s funds. On 18 November 2025, Justice Abdul‑Raheem Muyideen declined to grant the ex parte reliefs and directed that the bank be put on notice. Faced with this procedural obstacle, the logistics firm immediately discontinued the Lagos State suit and, within days, filed the same action before the FCT High Court in Abuja, this time succeeding in obtaining an ex parte freezing order against Parallex Bank’s funds without disclosing the pending Lagos Federal High Court proceedings or the earlier failed attempt.
The ex parte order, granted on 18 December 2025 by Justice Gummi, directed the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation to freeze N7,154,677,000 standing to the credit of Parallex Bank and to transfer the funds into an interest‑yielding account pending the determination of the motion on notice. FHT Mega Express had argued that it deposited the sum as cash collateral for letters of credit valued at about $7.31 million to finance import transactions, and that Parallex Bank failed to issue the letters of credit or refund the money. The bank, however, swiftly filed a preliminary objection, urging the court to set aside the ex parte order and dismiss the suit on grounds of abuse of process, forum shopping, and suppression of material facts.
Parallex Bank’s legal team argued that FHT Mega Express deliberately concealed three crucial facts from the FCT High Court: the existence of the earlier Federal High Court suit in Lagos; the subsisting status quo order issued by Justice Lewis Allagoa; and the logistics firm’s failed attempt to secure similar ex parte orders at the Lagos State High Court. Relying on these submissions, the bank contended that the Abuja suit was filed solely to re‑litigate the same issues and to obtain reliefs that had been denied in other courts, thereby exposing the judiciary to the risk of conflicting decisions by courts of coordinate jurisdiction. The court agreed with the bank’s position in its entirety.
In her judgment, Justice Gummi held that FHT Mega Express’ conduct demonstrated bad faith and constituted a clear abuse of judicial process. The judge noted that the discontinuance of the Lagos suit appeared to have been done to truncate the objection raised by the bank and to forum‑shop for a more favourable court. “The discontinuance of the Lagos suit appears to have been done to truncate the objection raised… and this action is regarded as forum shopping,” Justice Gummi ruled. The court emphasised that disputes must not be duplicated across jurisdictions for strategic advantage and that ex parte reliefs are granted only on the basis of utmost good faith, candour, and full disclosure – conditions it held the claimant failed to satisfy.
Consequently, the court dismissed the suit in its entirety, vacated the freezing order that had been in place since December 2025, and awarded costs of ₦500,000 against FHT Mega Express and in favour of Parallex Bank. The court noted that the cost award was necessary to reflect the gravity of the abuse and to deter similar conduct in the future. The ruling restores full control over the affected funds to Parallex Bank and clears the path for the bank to continue its recovery action in the Lagos Federal High Court, where the substantive dispute over the alleged ₦4.5 billion debt remains pending.
Legal observers have hailed the judgment as a strong precedent in commercial and banking litigation, reinforcing the judiciary’s stance against multiplicity of suits and forum shopping. “The decision underscores the obligation of litigants to make full and frank disclosure, particularly when seeking ex parte reliefs,” a banking lawyer told this reporter on condition of anonymity. “It sends a clear message that the courts will not tolerate attempts to manipulate judicial processes for strategic advantage.” Parallex Bank welcomed the ruling, describing it as “a triumph for due process, transparency, and the rule of law.” The bank reiterated its commitment to sound corporate governance and lawful conduct in all its dealings.
The dispute, however, is not fully resolved. The underlying controversy over the alleged ₦4.5 billion debt remains pending before the Federal High Court in Lagos. That case, which predates the Abuja suit, will now proceed without the distraction of parallel litigation. The Abuja ruling does not affect the merits of the debt dispute but merely cleanses the judicial process of what the court found to be an abusive procedural tactic. For FHT Mega Express, the dismissal and cost award represent a significant setback, adding a financial penalty to the legal defeat. For Parallex Bank, the judgment is a validation of its insistence on due process and a vindication of its position that the logistics firm had abused the court system. As the Lagos case continues, the banking industry will be watching closely to see whether the substantive dispute meets a more conventional judicial end.
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