UNION BANK OF NIGERIA LTD. V. PROFESSOR ALBERT OJO OZIGI

ADIO, JSC (Delivering the Leading Judgment): The respondent, a customer of the appellant, in 1982, obtained a loan of ₦250,000.00 from the appellant to enable the respondent complete a restaurant in Ilorin. The terms under or subject to which the loan was granted were set out in two deeds of mortagage, Exhibits 5 and 6. He was making payment to the appellant until 1988 when there was a disagreement between the appellant and the respondent on the question of the rate of the interest chargeable on the loan. The respondent was of the view that the rate was 11% throughout the period of repayment and, for that reason, the balance of the loan-outstanding was ₦116,076,10. The appellant maintained that the rate of the interest chargeable was not fixed. It was empowered by the mortgage agreements to stipulate the rate of interest from time to time and pursuant to the exercise of that power, the appellant had from time to time, after the granting of the loan, stipulated rates of interest higher…