The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, on Friday, restrained the Federal Government from taking steps that may cripple the operations and freezing the accounts of integrated energy company, Aiteo Group.
Justice Gabriel Kolawole made the order after he entertained an ex parte motion filed by Mike Ozekhome (SAN) on behalf of the company.
Aiteo, a limited liability company, is a major player in the upstream sector of the Nigeria’s oil industry.
It is also a joint operator of Oil Mining Lease (OML) 29, an asset which is jointly owned by the firm and the Federal Government through the NNPC, which subscribes 55 per cent of the said asset.
The ex-parte application is seeking an order of interim injunction restraining the defendants from interfering with or obstructing the business operations of the company.
The defendants in the case are Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice (AGF) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Arguing the motion, Ozekhome urged the court to make a preservative order for maintenance of the “status quo’’.
He said this was in order to stop the defendants from taking any steps prejudicial to the business concerns and activities of his client.
Ozekhome argued that if a preservative order was not made immediately against the defendants, recent developments showed that the EFCC could spring surprises by freezing accounts of the company or sealing it.
In his ruling, Kolawole ordered the Federal Government to maintain the “status quo” pending the determination of the motion on notice filed by Aiteo against the defendants.
He further ordered the AGF and the EFCC to show cause on December 18 why the reliefs sought by the plaintiff in the motion ex parte should not be granted.
The matter was subsequently adjourned until December 18.
Meanwhile, further to his recent announcement engaging international law firms to lead the global effort to address legal and political-based issues, Aiteo Group and Benedict Peters, its Executive Vice Chairman, have appointed top Nigerian lawyers to complement their international representation efforts within the country.
The team, led by Wole Olanipekun, Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), a former President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), comprises senior lawyers Kanu Agabi SAN and Akin Olujinmi, SAN, both former Attorneys General and Ministers of Justice of the Federation, Mike Ozekhome SAN, Messrs Paul Usoro, SAN, Rotimi Ogunlesi SAN and A U Mustapha, SAN.
Others lawyers include Ebenezer Obeya, Chief Andrew Oru, Mrs Boma Alabi, Messrs Chidi Nobis-Elendu, Emeka Ozoani and Joseph Nwatu.
Announcing these appointments, Andrew Onyearu, Aiteo Group Executive Director and General Counsel said, “The Group’s belief in the Rule of Law and the legal processes in Nigeria require engagement with both commitment and premium resources. Recently, our conviction in the infallibility of our judicial processes continues to be vindicated by judicial pronouncements deprecating the unjustified calumnious attacks on our business and personal outlook. Our respect for this process mandates that those who advocate positions on our behalf possess and demonstrate the type of world-class credentials that our lawyers clearly possess.”
He further observed that “at the fulcrum of this stance is that desire to ensure that the course of justice is charted with the utmost sense of application, responsibility and expertise”.
Quite significantly, he states that “the Group has been adversely affected by a litany of unsustainable unlawful developments affecting both reputational and commercial integrity in a manner that has negatively impacted its operations. The Group can no longer allow this situation to continue and as such, has resolved to take steps to protect all its legal interests. Recent positive – and groundbreaking – outcomes from judicial interventions that we have achieved serve as clear pointers about the direction that we are now pursuing. Increasing the successful utilization of the judicial process in areas where we have been wronged will be the main objective of the team we have now put together.”
The scope of the work to be undertaken by the team will span the breadth of contentious legal work. It is understood, specifically, that one of its early mandates is to review publications commonly referred to as “open source” materials in which Aiteo and Peters have been featured in the last few years and to redress fabricated insinuations by all available means including court actions, a process which appears to have already started.
