The Federal High Court in Lagos has ordered the freezing of bank accounts linked to Petrocam Trading Nigeria Limited and its principal, Patrick Ilo, over an alleged debt of N9.05 billion owed to Zenith Bank Plc.
Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke issued the interim order on Wednesday after hearing an ex parte application filed by the bank seeking to secure funds allegedly owed by the company.
In the ruling delivered in Suit No: FHC/L/CS/393/2026, the court restrained the defendants from withdrawing, transferring, dissipating or otherwise dealing with funds up to N9,057,511,855.63 pending the hearing and determination of a motion on notice.
“An interim order is hereby granted restraining the defendants/respondents, whether by themselves, their agents, privies or assigns, from withdrawing, transferring, dissipating or otherwise dealing with any funds up to the sum of N9,057,511,855.63 pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice,” the court ruled.
Justice Aneke also directed that all accounts linked to Bank Verification Number (BVN) 22141926401, allegedly used by Ilo to operate accounts associated with Petrocam, be frozen.
The court ordered financial institutions within its jurisdiction to place a lien or “Post-No-Debit” restriction on any accounts connected to the BVN until further orders are issued.
“All financial institutions within the jurisdiction of this honourable court are hereby directed to place a lien or post-no-debit restriction on all accounts linked to BVN 22141926401 pending further orders of the court,” the judge held.
The order extends beyond conventional banks to include major players in Nigeria’s electronic payment system.
Joined as respondents in the suit are Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System, Interswitch Limited and Interswitch Financial Inclusion Services Limited.
Justice Aneke directed the institutions to disclose details of accounts connected to the BVN and provide information on balances and transactions.
The court ordered the respondents to file an affidavit within seven days detailing all accounts linked to the BVN, the balances in those accounts and the transactional history for the preceding six months.
Court documents filed by Zenith Bank showed that the dispute arose from a credit facility extended to Petrocam for petroleum import transactions.
According to the bank, the facility was subject to several pre-disbursement conditions, including the formal acceptance of the loan through authorised signatories and submission of a board resolution approving the borrowing.
Petrocam was also required to disclose any existing indebtedness to other lenders, including facility limits, outstanding balances and collateral pledged.
The filings stated that the company was expected to domicile proceeds from petroleum product sales and Sovereign Debt Note subsidy payments from Oando Plc and Total Nigeria Plc into its Zenith Bank account.
Other conditions included the submission of relevant contract agreements for the bank’s approval and the provision of a five per cent counterpart contribution for each transaction.
The facility agreement also required Petrocam to submit quarterly management accounts within 60 days after the end of each quarter and audited annual financial statements within 120 days.
Additionally, the company was required to route all import duty payments and Letters of Credit through its Zenith Bank account, establish Letters of Credit for petroleum imports and obtain comprehensive marine insurance naming Zenith Bank as the first loss payee.
The bank further stated that General Marine and Oil Services Ltd was appointed to monitor petroleum product warehousing under the arrangement at Petrocam’s expense.
According to the facility terms, Zenith Bank was also authorised to settle maturing Usance obligations at an interest rate of 12 per cent if Petrocam failed to provide the required funds.
The agreement further stipulated that Petrocam would bear all legal, recovery and ancillary costs arising from enforcement of the facility in the event of default.
Justice Aneke also granted Zenith Bank leave to serve the defendants through substituted means at their last known address in Victoria Island, Lagos.
The ex parte motion was argued by Chief A.A. Aribisala (SAN) on behalf of the bank.
The court adjourned the matter to March 17, 2026, for mention.
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