Facts:

The claimant is a customer of the defendant – a financial institution. In 2001, the claimant was awarded a rural electrification contract and approached the defendant for a facility in order to fund the project. After negotiations between the parties, the defendant granted the claimant of facility of N6,000,000.00 (Six Million Naira) with an interest rate pegged at 36%. The tenor was for 90 days and part of the terms was that the proceeds from the rural electrification project be domiciled with the defendant. The claimant also deposited title deeds to his property. An initial sum of N6,000,000.00 (Six Million Naira) being the first proceeds of the project was lodged with the defendant before the facility was granted. The defendant failed to domicile the proceeds from the rural electrification project with the defendant after the facility was granted.
However, in 2003, after the claimant failed to repay the facility, the defendant reported the matter to the Police who arrested and detained the claimant on the allegation that the claimant was involved in some fraud concerning non-domiciliation of the proceeds of the rural electrification project in his account with the defendant. The matter was settled between the parties after the defendant agreed to accept N7,000,000.00 (Seven Million Naira) in full and final liquidation of the debt. Pursuant to the Police intervention, the claimant issued a cheque of N6,000,000.00 (Six Million Naira) to the defendant.
The defendant could not clear the cheque after presenting it for payment. In 2005, the defendant made moves to exercise its power of sale over the claimant’s property used in securing the facility after alleging that the claimant’s indebtedness to it had risen to N9,199,604.21 (Nine Million One Hundred and Ninety Nine Thousand, Six Hundred and Four Naira, Twenty One Kobo). The claimant was aggrieved and filed a suit against the defendant at the High Court of Lagos State seeking among several reliefs, a declaration that he was no longer indebted to the defendant for any money whatsoever having paid the agreed sum of N7,000,000.00 (Seven Million Naira) in full and final settlement of his indebtedness to the defendant. The defendant alleged that the entries in his account showing the alleged indebtedness were wrongly inserted and do not reflect the true and correct state of his account with the defendant.
The claimant also sought an order of the court to perpetually restrain the defendant or its servants from taking any steps to enforce or execute any purported power of sale over his property used in securing the facility. The defendant filed its defence and later a counterclaim seeking declarations of the court to the effect that the claimant was indebted to it to the tune of N9,199,604.21 (Nine Million, One Hundred and Ninety Nine Thousand, Six Hundred and Four Naira, Twenty One Kobo) made up of the principal sum and interest calculated on the facility and to order the claimant to pay same plus interest at the rate of 35% interest from 2005 when the suit was filed until judgment is delivered