UBA Accused Of Holding Man’s Property 25 Years After Loan Repayment

United Bank for Africa (UBA) has been accused of unlawfully withholding the property documents of a Nigerian businessman more than two decades after he fully repaid a N100,000 overdraft facility.

It was gathered that David Oloyede, a businessman based in Ibadan, obtained an overdraft facility from UBA in 1990. As collateral for the loan, he deposited the deed of his landed property with the bank.

However, despite settling the loan in full by 2001, UBA has allegedly refused to release the original title documents 25 years later.

David’s son, Bode Oloyede, said the bank has ignored repeated requests, visits, and formal letters demanding the return of the property deed.

“My father paid back the loan completely, but UBA has refused to release the title document he deposited as collateral,” Bode said.
Documents obtained , including a 2003 statement of account, show that deductions related to the overdraft had ceased, indicating the loan had been cleared.

A pre-action letter issued by David’s lawyers further confirmed that the overdraft facility expired on August 16, 1999, and that all outstanding indebtedness was fully liquidated on December 21, 2001.

Part of the letter read:
“All outstanding indebtedness was fully liquidated… leaving a credit balance after deduction of interest and administrative charges.”

Despite this, the Oloyede family said UBA has continued to hold on to the deed without explanation.

Bode disclosed that they had visited several UBA offices in Ibadan and written multiple letters to the bank’s head office, but received no response.

FIJ also confirmed that emails sent to UBA on January 12 and again on Friday received only automated replies, with no official response from the bank as of publication.

UBA is yet to publicly explain why it is still in possession of the property documents decades after the loan was reportedly settled.