The Supreme Court has cleared the merger between Providus Bank and Unity Bank, bringing to an end the legal disputes that had challenged the consolidation of the two financial institutions.
In a unanimous judgment delivered on Monday, a five-member panel of the apex court dismissed an appeal filed by two customers and shareholders of the banks, Suleiman Abubakar and Mohammed Goni Modu, describing the case as lacking merit.
The appellants had sought to overturn an earlier judgment of the Court of Appeal and stop the merger process.
Other respondents in the suit included PAC Capital Limited, Vetiva Advisory Services Limited, Lighthouse Capital Limited, Planet Capital Limited, the Corporate Affairs Commission, the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Central Bank of Nigeria.
Following the dismissal of the appeal, the Supreme Court invoked Section 22 of the Supreme Court Act and directly sanctioned the merger between Providus Bank and Unity Bank.
The ruling effectively ends all litigation relating to the transaction.
The banks had approached the Federal High Court in July 2025 as part of efforts to comply with the Central Bank of Nigeria’s recapitalisation policy. They sought approval to hold separate meetings of shareholders and directors to consider and approve a merger scheme.
After the meetings, shareholders of both banks approved the merger and the Federal High Court sanctioned the arrangement.
The appellants later sought to challenge the merger despite not being parties to the scheme. Although they were granted leave to join the proceedings as interested parties, their efforts to stop the merger were unsuccessful at both the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court.
The apex court ordered the appellants to pay costs of N10 million each to the respondents.
The court also approved the transfer of all assets, liabilities, undertakings and real properties of Unity Bank to Providus Bank in line with the approved merger scheme.
Justice Tijani Abubakar ordered that the transfer process be completed within 10 days.
As part of the merger arrangement, the court approved a consideration of N3.18 per share or 18 Providus Bank shares of 50 kobo each for every 17 Unity Bank shares held by shareholders.
The court further approved the dissolution of the Unity Bank board without winding up the institution and adopted the new name, Providus Unity Bank Limited, for the merged entity.
Reacting to the judgment, counsel to Unity Bank, Damian Dodo, SAN, said the ruling had finally resolved all disputes surrounding the merger.
“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.
