The management of Sahara Energy Resource Limited (Nigeria) has said that the company has no outstanding facilities with the United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA) contrary to media reports.
In a statement on the Sahara Group website, the management said it had instructed its lawyers to take necessary steps to ensure UBA’s petition is dismissed.
“We assure our esteemed clients, bankers, suppliers, stakeholders and the general public that SERL and its legal team are taking all lawful steps to ensure that SERL interest is vigorously defended and SERL has implicit confidence in the Nigerian judiciary to resolve the matter and dispense justice between the parties,” the statement said.
It added that it is not “indebted to UBA, has no outstanding facilities with UBA nor did it borrow any money from UBA in any loan transaction that is the subject matter of either the civil petition (FHC/L/CP/387/19) or the civil summons (FHC/L/CS/387/19 as advertised) that formed the subject of the ex parte order.”
SERL and one of its affiliate companies, NG Power-HPS Limited, had dragged UBA to the Federal High Court, Lagos, on February 13, seeking several declarative and injunctive solutions “relating to unorthodox methods employed by UBA in relation to its dealings with the Plaintiffs.”
UBA, on March 12, issued another suit against New Electricity Distribution Company Limited and SERL along with two other institutions, First Trustees Limited and Ecobank Capital Limited, claiming certain declarations and injunctions to which SERL says it has filed full and comprehensive response.
While hearing on the two suits have been set before the Federal High Court in Lagos for May 30, SERL said: “UBA commenced a third suit on the 13th of March, and applied ex parte, (and without putting SERL on notice before serving the petition) obtained an order ex parte to advertise the petition.
“The petition was only served on SERL at about 12.25 p.m. on 11th April 2019 after it has been advertised as aforesaid.”
