Legal Representation Delays Hearing in E-Customs Concession Project Suit Against FG

The scheduled hearing in the lawsuit filed by E-Customs HC Project Limited and Bionica Technologies Limited against the Federal Government faced an unexpected delay due to a legal representation dispute. The suit, which involves several government entities as defendants, including the Federal Government, Attorney-General of the Federation, Finance Minister, Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission, Nigeria Customs Service, Trade Modernization Project Limited, Huawei Technologies Limited, African Finance Corporation, and Bergman Security Consultant and Supply Limited, is a challenge to the alleged unlawful modifications made to a concession agreement by the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) under the former Comptroller General, Col. Ahmed Ali (rtd). During the court proceedings before Justice Inyang Ekwo, a new counsel, Pius Nnoli, unexpectedly appeared on behalf of E-Customs HC Project Limited, challenging the representation by the senior lawyer, Ahmed Raji SAN. The attempt by Nnoli to take over the case was met with strong opposition from Ahmed Raji, who claimed to be the lawful counsel engaged by the company. The legal dispute encountered a hiccup when Nnoli informed Justice Ekwo that the senior lawyer had filed a voluminous counter affidavit against his representation. He requested a short adjournment to respond and present the legal instruments by which he was engaged by his client. Upon inquiry by the court, Raji SAN confirmed that Nnoli was served with the counter affidavit in the courtroom, validating his participation in the case. Justice Ekwo decided to grant Nnoli time to respond to the counter affidavit and, with no objections from the lawyers involved, adjourned the hearing in the case until Thursday, October 26, 2023. The two aggrieved companies, E-Customs HC Project Limited and Bionica Technologies (West Africa) Limited, jointly filed the lawsuit to challenge the alleged unlawful and fraudulent concession of the E-custom project to African Finance Corporation. They narrated how they had initially proposed a custom modernization project for the benefit of the Nigeria Customs Service, which received anticipated approval from President Muhammadu Buhari on September 2, 2020. However, issues arose when the Nigeria Customs Service unilaterally reviewed the Federal Executive Council approval and imposed various conditions, including shareholding and governance structure. The companies argued that the NCS’s authority to unilaterally review the FEC’s approval was contested but to no avail. To their surprise, they discovered that the Nigeria Customs Service had executed a concession agreement with an unknown company, Trade Modernization Project, Huawei Technologies Company, and African Finance Corporation, in total breach of the memorandum of understanding prepared by the Attorney-General of the Federation in conjunction with the Finance Minister. The plaintiffs contended that Trade Modernization Project was incorporated in April 2022 and could not have obtained the necessary approvals and certificates for the E-Customs Project. They sought the court’s declaration that the government’s decision to enter into a concession agreement with Trade Modernization Project, Huawei Technologies Company, and African Finance Corporation was illegal and in violation of the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission Act 2005. The companies also sought a declaration that E-Customs HC Project Limited was the rightful concessionaire approved by the Federal Executive Council in September 2020, in accordance with the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Act. Additionally, they requested the court to direct the Federal Government, the Attorney-General of the Federation, Finance Minister, Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission, and Nigeria Customs Service to consummate the E-Customs Project with the 1st plaintiff, as approved by the FEC. Finally, the two plaintiffs demanded that the court compel the defendants to pay them a sum of two hundred million naira as the cost of litigation.

We’ll appeal N72.2bn judgement against us, Ecobank insists

In a swift reaction to the judgment by a Federal High Court in Lagos which ordered it to pay Honeywell Group N72.2 billion over an illegal ex-parte order obtained by the bank, Ecobank Nigeria Limited has insisted that it would appeal the judgment against it. The bank in a statement, noted that the judgment cannot stand the test of time, saying it would vigorously challenge the same and remain confident that it can reverse it at the higher courts. The ruling, delivered on Tuesday by Justice Mohammed Liman, brought an end to a longstanding legal battle between the flour milling company and the bank. Justice Liman, who presided over the case, granted the requests of Honeywell Flour against Ecobank in the legal battle that started after the lender refused the manufacturer access to its accounts in 2015. Honeywell Flour’s accounts were frozen in November 2015 when Ecobank secured an ex parte order, which was granted on the condition that the financial institution will compensate the former for harm or loss caused by the action. Ecobank had shut Honeywell Flour out of their accounts in an attempt to wind up the latter over an alleged outstanding debt owed by the manufacturer. According to the bank, the instant suit was an action filed in 2018 for the enforcement of the Bank’s Undertaking as to Damages which was filed in pursuance of its Winding Up Petition and the Ex-Parte Orders which were granted in favour of the Bank. “We challenged the action through a Notice of Preliminary Objection dated 16th October 2018 whereby we challenged the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court, as (among other reasons), the action did not fall within the provisions of Section 251 (d) of the Constitution, being that the subject matter of the suit was for the Claim of Damages arising out of an Ex-Parte Order, as opposed to a Banker-Customer relationship. The trial was concluded in this matter on 9th March 2021 and the parties adopted their final written addresses alongside our Notice of Preliminary objection on 16th March 2022, the Court then adjourned the matter to 27th May 2022 for judgment. “In the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision in the Bank’s favour, in Suit No. SC/CV/210/2021 which was delivered on 27th January 2023, the bank further filed a Motion on notice dated 9th March 2023 to dismiss the Suit because the same has become academic as a result of the judgment entered in favour of Ecobank wherein the Supreme Court held that Honeywell remained indebted to the Bank. The bank reiterated that it is a member of the Ecobank Group, the Pan-African Bank which is proudly and fully committed to transparency in all the countries where it operates and abides by laws and regulations. Ecobank had alleged that Honeywell Group, former owner of Honeywell Flour, owes the company N13.5 billion, as outstanding debt.