The Court of Appeal in Lagos has overturned a Federal High Court ruling that favoured Fenchurch Energy Nigeria Limited, Funsho Adeyemi, and Femi Bakare, who are minority shareholders of Bastanchury Power Solutions Nigeria Limited.
This decision was made in response to an appeal filed by Bastanchury Power Solutions Nigeria Limited, African Plus Partners Nigeria Limited, FBNQuest Trustees Limited, and Stanbic IBTC Trustees Limited.
The appellants challenged the lower court's ruling, which granted the plaintiffs various reliefs related to corporate governance and financial matters within Bastanchury Power Solutions.
The original lawsuit was initiated in the Federal High Court in Lagos by Fenchurch Energy Nigeria Limited, Funsho Adeyemi, and Femi Bakare.
They sought several reliefs, including, an order of the court compelling Bastanchury Power Solutions Nigeria Limited to hold an Annual General Meeting (AGM) and a Board Meeting within seven days, in compliance with the Companies and Allied Matters Act of 2020, the appointment of an independent auditor to audit the company’s financial records and operations, citing allegations of financial misappropriation by African Plus Partners Nigeria Limited, a perpetual injunction preventing the defendants from dealing unilaterally with Bastanchury Power Solutions' assets, funds, and shares until a full audit was completed, and an order requiring FBNQuest Trustees Limited and Stanbic IBTC Trustees Limited to disclose all funds belonging to Bastanchury Power Solutions and African Plus Partners Nigeria Limited.
The plaintiffs contended that African Plus Partners had allegedly misappropriated Bastanchury Power Solutions’ funds and diverted them to its investment fund, Africa Infra Plus Fund (AIPF).
The Federal High Court ruled in favour of the plaintiffs, granting all their requested reliefs.
Dissatisfied with this judgment, the defendants, represented by Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs) Ayoola Ajayi and Ahmed Raji, appealed the ruling.
They argued that the lower court's ruling constituted an abuse of the court process because similar proceedings involving the same parties and subject matter were already pending before another judge in the same Federal High Court.
The Court of Appeal panel, led by Justice Jimi Olukayode Dada and supported by Justices Danlami Zama Senchi and Paul Ahmed Bassi, ruled in favour of the appellants.
The court dismissed the original suit and set aside the Federal High Court’s decision, imposing a cost of ₦500,000 against the plaintiffs.
In delivering the lead judgment, Justice Dada emphasized that the trial court erred by denying the appellants the opportunity to present evidence in response to the plaintiff's claims, which amounted to a denial of a fair hearing.
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