Supreme Court Dissolves Unity Bank Board

The Supreme Court has dismissed an appeal challenging the merger between Providus Bank Limited and Unity Bank Plc, effectively bringing an end to the prolonged legal dispute over the transaction.
In a unanimous judgment delivered by a five-member panel led by Justice Tijani Abubakar, the apex court upheld the merger and dismissed the appeal for lacking merit. The court also awarded N10 million in costs against the appellants in favour of each respondent.
The appeal, filed under Appeal No. SC/CV/132/2026, arose from earlier proceedings at the Court of Appeal and the Federal High Court, where efforts were made to halt the consolidation of the two financial institutions.
Invoking its powers under Section 22 of the Supreme Court Act, the court went beyond dismissing the appeal by formally sanctioning the merger scheme. It ordered the transfer of all assets, liabilities, undertakings and real properties of Unity Bank Plc to Providus Bank Limited in line with the approved merger arrangement.
The apex court directed that the transfer process be completed within 10 days.
As part of the merger terms, the court approved a consideration of N3.18 per share for Unity Bank shareholders or an exchange ratio of 18 Providus Bank shares of 50 kobo each for every 17 Unity Bank shares held.
The court further ordered the dissolution of the Unity Bank board without winding up the institution and approved the adoption of a new corporate identity, ProvidusUnity Bank Limited, for the merged entity.
Suleiman Abubakar and Mohammed Goni Modu, customers and shareholders of the affected banks, had sought through a series of legal actions to stop the merger. Their challenge moved from the Federal High Court to the Court of Appeal before reaching the Supreme Court.
Reacting to the judgment, counsel to Unity Bank, Chief D.D. Dodo, SAN, and R.O. Atabo, SAN, described the ruling as a historic decision that finally settles all disputes relating to the merger.
According to Dodo, the judgment removes every legal impediment to the consolidation of the two banks.
“What the Supreme Court has done by this judgment is to bring closure to the merger between Providus Bank and Unity Bank. Some persons went to the Federal High Court and attempted to truncate the merger, and the matter progressed through the Court of Appeal to the Supreme Court. Today, that chapter has been conclusively closed,” he said.