A plea filed by Petro Union Oil and Gas Company Limited to prevent Union Bank of Nigeria Plc from accepting or offering for sale its assets was denied by a federal high court in Lagos.
In 2014, the late Justice Adamu Abdu-Kafarati presided over a verdict in favor of Petro Union in a complaint brought against the CBN, Union Bank, Minister of Finance, and Attorney-General of the Federation with the case number 2014 FHC/ABJ/M/104/2012.
From June 22, 1995, until payment is paid to the oil firm, Kafarati ordered the banks to pay £2.556 billion plus a 15% annual interest rate.
The debt totals more than $15 billion, including interest.
In an attempt to enforce the judgment, Petro Union approached the federal high court in June 2021 through a motion ex parte seeking an order of interim injunction restraining Union Bank from accepting or offering for sale its assets in any manner pending the determination of the suit.
It asked the court to make an order directing maintenance of status quo and suspending all actions, proceedings and processes relating to the intended sale of Union Bank’s assets pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice of which the court granted the motion ex parte.
Upon being served, Union Bank, through its lawyer, Olaniwun Ajayi, applied to set aside the ex-parte which the Petro Union was seeking to make permanent.
Ajayi also filed other processes in opposition to the motion on notice.
Union Bank argued that a litigant cannot prevent a shareholder of a company with which it is involved in litigation from selling its shares and that such an action by a shareholder cannot be imputed to the company.
The bank’s lawyers further argued that an appeal and an application for stay of execution against the judgment sought to be enforced were pending at the supreme court.
They added that a case of fraud and forgery was pending against Petro Union and its directors at the federal high court.
Delivering a ruling on Thursday, Daniel Osiagor, the presiding judge, referred to a Bloomberg publication, which read in part: “Atlas Mara Limited, the London Stock Exchange-listed pan-African banking group started by Mr Bob Diamond has received a number of approaches for its 49.97 per cent holding in Lagos-based Union Bank of Nigeria.”
The judge held that — from the quoted paragraph — it is Atlas Mara Limited that received offers for the sale of its shares in Union Bank.
He held that shares belonging to shareholders is not the same as the assets of a company, hence the court cannot prevent a shareholder from selling its shares.
The court also declined to make any preservatory order because of the appeal pending at the supreme court.
Osiagor further stated that there was no threat to the ‘res’ to necessitate a preservatory order of the court, thus dismissing the originating summons filed by Petro Union.
In December, Union Bank disclosed that Union Global Partners Limited, Atlas Mara Limited and other existing shareholders agreed to divest 89.39 percent shareholding in Union Bank to Titan Trust Bank Limited (TTB).
The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and other financial conditions.
Ojelabi, the publisher of Freelanews, is an award winning and professionally trained mass communicator and a recipient of the D9112 Superstar Icon Award, who writes ruthlessly about pop culture, religion, politics and entertainment.
