The Federal Capital Territory High Court, sitting on appeal, has affirmed the N1.3 million judgment awarded by the trial Magistrate in 2021 against Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank) over unauthorized withdrawals from the account of Dr. Sonny Ajala, SAN.
In a judgment delivered by Justice A.S. Adepoju, the two-judge panel, sitting in its appellate jurisdiction, dismissed GTBank’s appeal against the lower court’s decision, which found the bank liable for breaching its duty of care to the customer. The lower court had awarded N1 million in damages to the claimant for multiple breaches of his mandate.
The case stemmed from multiple unauthorized Taxify payments totaling N37,400 made from the customer’s account. The customer maintained that he never authorized these transactions and did not use Taxify services during the period in question.
The court ruled that GTBank failed to properly investigate the unauthorized transactions when the customer lodged a complaint. Despite contacting the merchant (Taxify), the bank did not attempt to identify who actually used the service or verify the transactions.
While GTBank argued that the customer must have compromised his PIN, the court found that the bank failed to provide any evidence to support this claim. The customer testified that his ATM card was always in his possession and that he never shared his PIN.
Justice Adepoju noted that, as a financial institution, GTBank owed its customer a duty of care to protect his funds and properly investigate unauthorized transactions. The court found the bank negligent in handling the situation.
