General Hydrocarbons Limited (GHL), its directors and shareholders have commenced contempt proceedings against senior officials of the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON).
It alleged they misled the Federal High Court, Lagos and Justice Akintayo Aluko by not disclosing a substantive injunction issued by Justice A. Lewis-Allagoa of the same Federal High Court, Lagos, days earlier.
It said Justice Lewis-Allagoa restrained them from taking any steps whatsoever towards appointing or continuing with any appointment of a Receiver over GHL.
In a statement yesterday, GHL accused AMCON and its lawyers of failure to disclose to Justice Aluko that Justice Lewis-Allagoa had, in fact, restrained AMCON from appointing or continuing any receivership when they obtained the order ex-parte.
GHL said they misrepresented the facts that there was an Eligible Bank Asset (EBA) issued by AMCON to GHL.
“This is not true,” the firm said. “Indeed, AMCON made a part-payment and deposit towards a First Bank of Nigeria (FBN) EBA and made Tranche 1 payment to First Bank of Nigeria Limited (FBN), and did not make the 2nd and final payment to FBN to complete the consideration towards an EBA.
“FBN has since offered to return this EBA deposit in Letters to AMCON and processes filed in court.
“Instead of pursuing FBN, AMCON, for some curious and inexplicable reasons, is seeking to go after GHL, despite all their correspondence to the contrary blaming FBN, which are all before the courts.”
The company said following this, the Form 48 – Notice of consequence of disobedience of court orders has now issued against Dr Bala Bello (Chairman of AMCON), Mr Gbenga Alade (MD of AMCON), Mr Adeshola Lamidi (ED of AMCON), Mr Lucky Adaghe (ED of AMCON), Dr Aminu Mukhtar Dan’amu (ED of AMCON), Mr Oluseyi Akinwunmi (purported Receiver appointed by AMCON), Mr Bidemi Ademola-Bello SAN (Counsel to AMCON and the MD of AMCON, who was in Court when Justice Lewis-Allagoa made the order and he undertook in open Court to abide by the orders of the Court); and Mr Ade Adedeji SAN (Counsel to AMCON and the MD of AMCON, whose firm is representing AMCON and the MD of AMCON).
“Justice Lewis-Allagoa has now ordered substituted service of the Contempt processes to all of the above-named persons through their official email addresses and WhatsApp phone numbers, and/or by delivering same to them at their official addresses and/or by publishing same in at least two newspapers with nationwide circulation in Nigeria, and other news media with nationwide presence in Nigeria,” GHL said in the statement by its management.
Source; The Nation News