The paramount ruler of Kurama Kingdom in Kaduna State, the Bugwam Kurmi, His Royal Highness Yakubu Iliya Sauri, has dragged Keystone Bank Limited before the Kaduna State High Court over an alleged unauthorised loan and overdraft of N11.03m linked to his account.
The suit, filed before the High Court sitting in Saminaka, accuses the bank of imposing the loan facility without his application, approval or consent, while seeking N100m in damages for alleged breach of contract, reputational harm and financial losses.
According to court documents, the monarch alleged that officials of the bank had repeatedly offered him loan facilities, which he consistently declined before discovering a negative balance of over N11m on his account.
He claimed that after writing to Keystone Bank's headquarters in Lagos, the bank attributed the development to a system glitch that allegedly occurred over several weeks, maintaining that the disputed transaction resulted from an internal error.
Sauri, however, argued that his account statement reflected only debit entries without any corresponding credit for the alleged loan, insisting that no facility was ever paid into his account.
The claimant further contended that the bank's action violated the contractual relationship between a financial institution and its customer, describing the transaction as unlawful and oppressive.
He also alleged that the bank concealed the disputed transaction, issued conflicting account balances and later attempted to justify the development by citing a system malfunction, a claim he said portrayed him as someone who manipulated the bank's information technology infrastructure.
According to the monarch, he was never invited by the bank to discuss the alleged loan, nor was he informed of any system error until he personally discovered the negative balance in his account.
He is also asking the court to hold that the bank's reversal of over N1.72m deducted as debit interest between January and May 2026 amounted to an admission that the transaction was irregular.
Among the reliefs sought, Sauri wants the court to compel Keystone Bank to reverse the disputed N11.03m and any additional charges arising from it, declare that he bears no liability for the transaction, and award him N50m as general damages, N30m as special damages and N20m as punitive damages.
The monarch also urged the court to order the bank to publish public apologies across television, radio and newspaper platforms, direct the temporary closure of Keystone Bank's Saminaka branch pending a forensic investigation and compel it to refund his litigation expenses.
He further applied to join the Central Bank of Nigeria as a party to the suit, arguing that the apex bank has a statutory responsibility to regulate financial institutions and safeguard customers under the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act.
The suit was instituted by Gloria Mabeiam Ballason of MIVE Legals (Ballason Chambers).
As of the time of filing the case, Keystone Bank had yet to enter appearance before the court.
However, the Branch Manager of Keystone Bank in Saminaka, Suleiman Dari, confirmed receipt of the suit and maintained that the customer became indebted to the bank after allegedly making withdrawals and transfers that exceeded the available balance in his account over time.
The case is expected to test key legal issues surrounding digital banking operations, customer liability and financial institutions' responsibilities in handling system-related transaction disputes.
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