Businessman Oba Otudeko has written to FBN Holdings to ignore a petition by Ecobank’s lawyers, demanding rejection of 4.7 billion shares purchased by him.
Otudeko wrote to the bank on Wednesday through his lawyers Wole Olanipekun & Co.
The law firm, in the letter, dismissed claims by Ecobank that there was a Supreme Court judgment backing its stance that Otudeko was owing N13.5bn.
According to the letter, no order of the court had “awarded same or any judgment sum (as debt owed) at all in favour of Ecobank as a liability from our clients or any of the Honeywell companies.”
Part of the letter reads, “The sum of N13.51bn (thirteen billion, five hundred and seven million, fifty-two thousand, four hundred and seventeen naira, ninety-nine kobo) stated in Ecobank’s letter is/was not contained in the Supreme Court decision or any extant court decision in Nigeria or elsewhere.”
The letter noted that the responsibilities of a chief executive of a financial institution were limited to statutory duties and did not extend to intervening in transactions between third parties on the Nigerian Exchange.
It added, “As you are aware, the duties of the chief executive officer of a financial institution are statutory and they do not extend to the various actions Ecobank’s letter requested you to perform, including but not limited to intervention in transactions between third parties on the Nigerian Exchange.”
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The lawyers also argued that Ecobank’s requests for disclosures of the details of the acquisition of the shares were inconsistent with established confidentiality obligations.
It urged FBN Holdings to reject the request by Ecobank for a full disclosure of the details of the deal, as there was no express court order mandating such disclosures.
Amid the controversy, FBN Holdings’ shares dropped by 10 per cent on Wednesday.
According to figures published on the website of the Nigerian Exchange Limited, FBN Holdings’ shares dropped from N21.50 to N19.35, shedding N2.15 or 10 per cent.
