The legal fight between Union Bank and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is now centered on control of the bank, but for customers the immediate question is whether daily banking will be affected.
On March 25, 2026, the Federal High Court in Lagos nullified the CBN’s January 2024 takeover of Union Bank. The court ruled that the CBN acted outside its powers under the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act and ordered the reinstatement of the former board and core shareholders, including Titan Trust Bank, Luxis International, and Magna International.
The CBN on the other side has strongly disagreed with the court’s verdict and immediately filed an appeal to challenge the ruling, stating that enforcing it would undermine public confidence and threaten systemic financial stability.
The appeal has prolonged the legal face-off and brought feelings of uncertainty to customers of union bank.
While the legal battle continues, the CBN has assured the public that Union Bank’s operations remain safe, sound, and fully capable of serving customers.
Union Bank on the other hand corroborated CBN’s assurance saying operations are running normally.
However, deposits remain under CBN oversight and the bank is still required to meet its obligations to depositors. The CBN has insisted in their official statements that reversing the takeover would not change its role as regulator.
The uncertainty customers of Union Bank are afraid of is that;
The underlying financial issue remains. Union Bank still faces a reported capital shortfall of over N224 billion. That shortfall existed before the takeover and was one reason the CBN cited for dissolving the board, alongside a non-compliant Capital Adequacy Ratio.
If the CBN’s appeal succeeds and a stay of execution is granted, the CBN-appointed board would likely resume and continue the recapitalisation process. If the appeal fails, the reinstated board will need to present its own plan to close the capital gap.
Until the courts decide, customers are unlikely to see changes to account access or deposits. The longer-term implication depends on how quickly the bank resolves the capital shortfall and whether the dispute slows lending and expansion plans.
At the moment, some customers are reporting intermittent issues with mobile apps and USSD codes during the period of uncertainty, though no widespread outage has been confirmed.
Recall that, the core issue between the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and Union Bank began on the CBN’s controversial 2024 takeover of the bank, which major shareholders legally challenged and a Federal High Court subsequently nullified.
The Original CBN takeover was in January 2024, when the Apex Bank dissolved the board and management of Union Bank. The regulator cited severe financial distress, undercapitalization, and significant non-compliance with banking laws (BOFIA 2020). Investigations alleged that previous owners and directors engaged in “unorthodox financial engineering,” using the bank’s own funds to acquire its shares and transferring an unhedged $300 million foreign loan onto Union Bank’s balance sheet.
Dissatisfied with the dissolution and the dilution of their investments, the core shareholders (including Titan Trust Bank) sued the CBN. In March, a Federal High Court in Lagos ruled in favor of the shareholders. The court declared the CBN’s actions unlawful, stating that the apex bank acted outside its statutory authority, quashed the interim management decisions, and ordered the reinstatement of the original board
Current Status of the dispute reveals that, following the court ruling, the CBN appealed the decision, assembled a team of senior lawyers, and sought a stay of execution. The CBN maintains that executing the reinstatement could disrupt governance and undermine public confidence in the financial sector. While the legal battle continues, the CBN has officially assured the public that Union Bank remains stable and capable of fulfilling its financial obligations.
