Alex Enumah
Justice Taofiquat Oyekan-Abdullahi of a Lagos High Court in Ikoyi has fixed June 27 to hear all pending applications in a tenancy dispute between Greenwich Merchant Bank Limited and Union Bank of Nigeria.
Justice Oyekan-Abdullahi fixed the date after listening to lawyers representing parties in the suit marked, LD/3713LM.
The plaintiff, Greenwich Merchant Bank Limited, had dragged the defendant (Union Bank) to court over alleged disagreement in the renewal of a leased property.
In its statement of claim datedMay 6, 2022, the claimant said that it entered into the tenancy agreement with Union Bank of Nigeria in respect of an office space at a building situate at Plot 1668B, Oyin Jolayemi Street, Victoria Island, Lagos commencing from April 1, 2020.
According to the claimant, the space was rented to accommodate some of its subsidiaries and is not the Bank’s corporate head office.
It added that a dispute however, arose between the Bank and Union Bank of Nigeria Plc regarding the terms and conditions of the tenancy.
The seeming inability of the parties to mutually resolve the dispute therefore, led to the current litigation between the two banks.
Among the reliefs the claimant is seeking include a declaration that “there is an express and implied duty on the defendant to renew the sublease initially granted, subject to the new term and rental rate as may be agreed by the parties.
“An order of specific performance compelling the defendant to immediately enter into negotiations with the claimant for the purposes of agreeing on the new term and rental rate preparatory to the renewal of the sublease…
“An order of perpetual injunction restraining the defendant from ejecting the claimants and or its affiliate entities from the property unless and except in accordance with the due process of law and court order”.
After listening to the claimant’s lawyer, Dr. Kemi Pinheiro (SAN), the court on March 24, 2022, made an interim order restraining Union Bank from taking any steps to eject Greenwich Merchant Bank and its affiliate entities from the property or interfering with their rights under the sublease agreement.
The claimant had submitted before the court that the sublease agreement places the defendant under “an express and implied condition to negotiate the renewal of the lease term with the claimant, and also to renew the lease term, in the event that the claimant exercises its option to renew”.
Greenwich Merchant Bank claimed it had exercised that option via a letter dated September 2, 2021, but that “the defendant has till date failed and or refused to respond to the said claimant’s letter”.
Responding, Union Bank PLC through its counsel, Adetunji Adedoyin-Adeniyi, urged the court to evict the claimant, maintaining that there is no dispute between the parties to refer to Arbitration or Mediation.
After listening to both parties, the court adjourned till June 27, 2022, for hearing of all pending applications in the suit.
