Access Bank Plc has approached the Federal High Court in Lagos in a bid to recover ₦1,340,425,393 allegedly moved without authorisation from four customers’ accounts during what the bank described as a fraud incident involving its Access SME internet banking application.
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The bank said it discovered the incident upon resumption on August 12, 2026, following glitches experienced on its system, and subsequently launched an internal investigation.
According to Access Bank, the affected accounts belonged to MIB TXN Bullion, Aba Branch; AIICO General Insurance Company Limited; Apogee Engineering Limited; and SIMS Nigeria Limited.
The bank alleged that the funds were transferred from the customers’ accounts into several accounts domiciled with Access Bank and 71 other banks named as respondents in the proceedings.
Access Bank subsequently filed an ex parte motion marked FHC/LAG/MISC/1168/2026, seeking urgent orders to preserve the funds and prevent further dissipation while efforts to trace and recover the money continue.
The application was brought pursuant to Order 26 Rule 6 of the Federal High Court (Civil Procedure) Rules 2019, Sections 6(6)(c) and 36 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, and the inherent jurisdiction of the court.
Access Bank asked the court to direct it and the 71 respondent banks to place Post-No-Debit orders on accounts and Bank Verification Numbers listed in Exhibits Access 1 and Access 2, as well as any other accounts found to have received portions of the disputed funds.
The bank said the restrictions should apply only to the amounts allegedly received by each beneficiary and remain in place pending determination of its motion on notice.
It also sought an order compelling the respondent banks to file affidavits of disclosure showing the amounts preserved in the affected accounts.
Access Bank further requested that the BVNs linked to the beneficiary accounts be watchlisted until the full ₦1.34 billion is recovered, limited in each case to the amount traced to the respective beneficiaries.
The bank additionally sought an order directing the immediate reversal of salvaged funds in the affected accounts and other accounts linked to their BVNs into Access Bank account number 0703060877, to the extent received by each beneficiary.
In the affidavit supporting the application, deposed to by Sodiq Jimoh, a litigation clerk in the law firm of Country Hill Attorneys & Solicitors, counsel to Access Bank, the bank gave a breakdown of the alleged unauthorised transfers.
According to the affidavit, ₦590,975,889 was allegedly moved from the account of MIB TXN Bullion, Aba Branch; ₦420,449,504 from AIICO General Insurance Company Limited; ₦136 million from Apogee Engineering Limited; and ₦193 million from SIMS Nigeria Limited.
The bank said its internal investigation showed that the money had subsequently been dispersed into numerous accounts held with Access Bank and the 71 respondent financial institutions.
It further said the investigation identified the BVNs of alleged beneficiaries and other accounts linked to those BVNs, which were compiled in the exhibits placed before the court.
According to the affidavit, Access Bank immediately contacted the respondent banks after discovering the alleged fraud, notified them of the incident and requested that they preserve any traceable funds and provide information to assist the investigation.
The bank said the respondent institutions had already placed PND restrictions on the identified accounts but required a court order to sustain the restrictions.
Access Bank argued that there was an urgent need for judicial intervention to preserve the subject matter of the dispute and prevent further movement or withdrawal of the funds.
It maintained that it had a duty to ensure that money allegedly transferred from its customers’ accounts without authority was not withdrawn, transferred or otherwise dissipated before recovery efforts were completed.
The bank also argued that granting the application was necessary to combat cybercrime, which it said had the potential to undermine economic and national interests.
Access Bank undertook to pay damages if it was subsequently established that the interim orders ought not to have been granted.
It warned that it could suffer irreparable financial loss if the court did not intervene quickly.
After hearing submissions from Access Bank’s lawyer, Ifeoma E. Enyinnaya, Justice Akintayo Aluko held that the essence of the application was to preserve the disputed funds from further dissipation.
“The essence of the application is to preserve the funds from further dissipation. The court has a duty to preserve the ‘res’,” the judge said.
Justice Aluko granted the first three reliefs sought by the bank, including the PND, disclosure and BVN-related preservation orders.
The court, however, declined Access Bank’s request for the immediate reversal of the salvaged funds, holding that such an order would amount to something resembling a final relief at the ex parte stage.
“Reliefs 1 to 3 are grantable, while relief 4 cannot be granted at this stage, because it is more like a final order,” the judge ruled.
“Accordingly, reliefs 1 to 3 are granted while relief 4 is refused.”
Justice Aluko adjourned the matter to August 31, 2026, for further proceedings and directed Access Bank’s counsel to file an undertaking as to damages in the event that the interim orders are later found to have been wrongly made.
The allegations remain subject to the substantive proceedings, and the court has not made any final determination that the identified beneficiaries or any of the respondent banks participated in the alleged fraud.
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