CORAM
ADEMOLA CHIEF JUSTICE, NIGERIA
ONYEAMA JUSTICE, SUPREME COURT
AJEGBO JUSTICE, SUPREME COURT
PARTIES
ADERETI
APPELLANTS
ATTORNEY GENERAL, WESTERN NIGERIA
RESPONDENTS
AREA(S) OF LAW
CRIMINAL LAW – THEFT – INTERPRETATION OF LAW
SUMMARY OF FACTS
The 1st appellant, who was then the manager of the national bank at Ibadan, issued an overdraft in favour of the 2nd appellant at a time when the bank’s headquarters had issued a circular prohibiting all managers from granting overdrafts to customers.
HELD
The court allowed the appeal, quashing the convictions of the two appellants and entering a judgment of acquittal.
ISSUES
Whether the learned trial judge was right in his interpretation of section 324(2) (f) of the Criminal Code of Western Nigeria, that a bank manager who gives an overdraft to a customer without the previous approval of his directors steals the bank’s money;
Whether the bank’s customer who draws a cheque for an overdraft without the previous approval of the directors and gets the money, steals that money.
RATIONES DECIDENDI
NATURE OF AN OVERDRAFT FACILITY.
‘The taking of an overdraft from a bank, even in breach of instructions, is no more than accepting a loan: it cannot be stealing’ – Ademola C.J.N
NATURE OF AN OVERDRAFT FACILITY.
‘If, however, the cashier has limited authority about parting with the bank’s money, the giving of credit to a customer of the bank does not in the absence of fraudulent intent, amount to stealing the bank’s money’ – Ademola C.J.N
CASES CITED
R. v. Prince 11 Cox C.C. 193.
Cuthbert v. Robarts, Lubbock & Co. [1909] 2 Ch.D. 226
STATUTES REFERRED TO
Criminal Code of Western Nigeria Law