Lagride secures $100m Uba facility, expands Ev charging infrastructure

Lagride said it has secured a 100 million dollar financing facility from United Bank for Africa to expand its Drive To Own programme and enable 3,500 Lagos drivers to transition from daily earners into long-term asset owners, business operators and mobility investors.

The partnership strengthens Lagos State’s transportation ecosystem and accelerates the shift toward a structured, technology-enabled and financially bankable mobility sector. Over the past 10 months, Lagride has rebuilt its entire onboarding and operational system for drivers, known as Lagride Captains. The platform introduced a performance-led Drive To Earn structure supported by weekly and monthly rental models.

This system has generated consistent 90-day usage and repayment data across the fleet, allowing United Bank for Africa and other financial institutions to assess driver performance with accuracy, confidence and transparency.
Eligibility for the Drive To Own programme is based on clearly defined performance thresholds, repayment discipline, safety compliance and service consistency. Through this approach, Lagride has emerged as the most structured, data-driven and credit-ready mobility platform in Nigeria, setting a new benchmark for bankable driver financing and asset ownership.
“Transportation is the backbone of Africa’s economic future, and platforms like Lagride are creating the blueprint for how African cities can build modern, technology-driven and people-centred mobility systems.”
As part of the milestone, Lagride also unveiled an expanded electric vehicle charging facility in Alausa, Lagos, reinforcing its long-term commitment to clean, future-ready mobility. The expanded infrastructure is designed to support the growing electric vehicle segment within Lagride’s fleet, reduce operational downtime and enable more efficient, sustainable transportation at scale.

By pairing driver financing with practical EV infrastructure, Lagride is positioning itself as a mobility platform built not just for today’s Lagos, but for the next generation of urban transport.

Speaking on the landmark partnership, Chief Diana Chen, Chairman, Lagride, said that the ultimate goal of the Drive To Own programme is not to keep drivers behind the wheel indefinitely, but to move them up the economic value chain.
She explained that Lagride is intentionally designed to help drivers evolve from operators into owners, and ultimately into investors and partners managing multiple vehicles and teams of people.

“Lagride was created to give Lagos a modern, disciplined and technology-driven mobility system while ensuring that drivers are not left behind. The goal is for drivers who we call Captains to become business owners, fleet partners and mobility investors, not just drivers.
This 100 million dollar partnership with United Bank for Africa moves thousands of captains closer to owning productive assets, managing multiple cars and building stronger financial futures. It is a major step forward in our commitment to driver prosperity and the future of smart mobility in Lagos.”

She noted that the Drive To Own programme is a starting point, not an endpoint, laying the foundation for long-term enterprise building, governance and scalable wealth creation within the mobility sector. Delivering remarks at the event, Oliver Alawuba, Group Managing Director and CEO, United Bank for Africa, shared a personal reflection on his father, who had been a professional driver. He spoke about transportation as a source of dignity, livelihood and social mobility, and why UBA considers the sector critical to inclusive economic growth.

He also recounted his reaction when Chief Diana Chen first shared the Lagride vision, describing it as clear, ambitious and strongly aligned with UBA’s commitment to financing real-sector projects that create jobs, build assets and deliver long-term economic impact. According to him, Lagride represents the kind of transformational, well-governed and data-backed initiative that UBA exists to support across Africa.

The event featured contributions from key stakeholders across Lagride, UBA and CIG Motors Group, including: Chief Diana Chen, Chairman, Lagride; Ademola Adeyemi, Lagride Academy and Driver Management Team Lead; Dorathy Akpan Etim,  Lagride Captain on the Drive To Own Scheme with UBA; Brigadier General Chukwuemeka Udaya, Special Adviser to the Chairman on Government Relations, who signed on behalf of CIG Motors; Ifeanyi Abraham, PR Direc tor, Lagride, who hosted the event among other dignitaries in attendance.

No sale deal of N7.6 bn between NDIC, Senator Bunza-MD clears air on Ikoyi property The Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation said on Wednesday that there was no subsisting sales agreement between it and, Senator Farouk Bello Bunza, who hold an agreement to purchase the property from the defunct Heritage Bank.

According to NDIC, Senator Bunza’s refusal to accept the revised terms of sales, which the corporation offered him in respect of the property located at Plot 55 Federal Government Layout, Banana Island, Ikoyi, Lagos, automatically terminated the deal and rendered the agreement he had with Heritage bank invalid.

The Managing Director of the NDIC, Mr. Sunday Oludare Thomson, said at a media briefing in Abuja on Wednesday that following Senator Bunza’s rejection of the new offer in respect of the property, the corporation would soon throw open the sale of the property to the general public in order to recoup depositors’ fund.

The Managing Director said, “The Corporation’s revised offer was accompanied by specific conditions, including the fact that the property is being offered on an “as-is” basis, due to the legal action and the custody of the title document, which had been established to be in custody of an erstwhile director of the defunct bank.

Senator Bunza was among other conditions, required to communicate his acceptance of the offer to the Corporation within seven days of his receipt of the correspondent (September 25, 2025), immediately settle all outstanding installments accrued between June 2024 (the date of the bank’s closure) and September 2025, amounting to ₦1,777,777,777.76 calculated at ₦111,111,111.11 per month.

“Furthermore, Senator Bunza was required to pay the outstanding balance of ₦2,148,888,888.91 in equal monthly instalments of ₦358,148,148.15 within six months, commencing November 2025. He was also required to execute and return a Deed of Undertaking authorizing the Corporation to debit his bank account(s) for the settlement of any outstanding obligations in the event of default.

“The agreement further stipulated that, where a default occurs and the designated account(s) do not contain sufficient funds to satisfy the outstanding payment, the contract shall stand automatically terminated without further notice or recourse to him.

“Senator Bunza refused/failed to submit a formal letter of acceptance of the offer. He also failed/refused to execute and return the Deed of Undertaking as required under the terms of the re-offer. Senator Bunza, however, paid the outstanding instalment sum of ₦1,777,777,777.76 on September 30, 2025 and transmitted evidence of the electronic transfer to the Corporation.

“As a result, the Corporation issued a letter to Senator Bunza, dated October 6, 2025, wherein payment of the outstanding instalment was acknowledged and he was reminded of the need to satisfy the conditions of the offer, to enable the Corporation regularize the transaction.

This letter was personally taken by a senior staff of the Corporation, but Senator Bunza refused to accept the letter. Senator Bunza’s failure to fulfil the terms of the offer thus automatically terminated the offer for the sale of the property, bringing an end to the contract of sale.

“The Corporation received a letter from Coronation Merchant Bank Ltd, dated November 12, 2025, requesting that the Corporation provides an undertaking to enable the bank grant a Real Estate Financing facility to Senator Bunza, to facilitate the completion of payment of the outstanding sum of ₦2,148,888,888.91 only, being the balance due for the purchase of the property.

“Following the failure/refusal of Senator Bunza’s to accept the terms of the revised offer, the Corporation wrote to Senator Bunza via letter dated November 19, 2025, informing him of its inability to accede to his request or the release of the original title documents or any related property documents as a condition for granting the financing facility.
“A representative of Senator Bunza visited the Corporation’s Head Office on November 20, 2025 to collect the letter, but declined to take delivery of the correspondence after contacting Senator Bunza by phone.

“Senator Bunza’s failure to fulfill the conditions of the revised offer, specifically, to formally signify acceptance and execute the Deed of Undertaking within the prescribed seven-day period from September 30, 2025 constituted a fundamental breach, thereby rendering the offer automatically terminated, irrespective of his refusal to accept correspondence from the Corporation.

“Accordingly, the offer remains rescinded, and the sum of ₦2,611,111,111.09 earlier deposited by Senator Bunza towards the property shall be refunded forthwith upon submission of his account details.

“In this regard, the Corporation acts in fulfilment of its public policy objective, and in accordance with provisions of the NDIC Act 2023 and other enabling laws. Our goal is to conduct sales of assets in the most cost effective and efficient manner, and return the best value that supports payment of liquidation dividends to depositors and creditors of failed banks. This we will always implement with highest integrity and professionalism.

Mr. Thompson denied insinuations that the NDIC was being influenced by ‘some powerful South west interest to cancel the sales of the property to Senator Bunza, pointing out that the corporation cannot sell any property to any buyer on credit so as not to jeopardize depositors’ interest.

Senator Bunza has warned the NDIC that it cannot cancel the sale of the property to him after he had met the requirements stipulated in the binding agreement he signed with the defunct Heritage Bank, arguing that the corporation has no right whatsoever to tamper with the agreement.

But the NDIC is arguing that the NDIC law authorizes it to revoke in part of all agreement a distressed bank had entered into with a buyer within five years if it finds such deal to be at variance with public interest.