In a significant legal victory for General Hydrocarbons Limited (GHL), the Federal High Court in Lagos has overturned a Mareva injunction that froze the company’s assets and those of its directors.
The court’s decision was a result of compelling arguments presented by GHL’s legal counsel, Abiodun Layonu, SAN, and Olumide Aju, SAN, who represented the second to fifth defendants in the case.
Justice Dehinde Dipeolu ruled that the Mareva injunction was in violation of a prior order from a court of concurrent jurisdiction.
The ruling followed a detailed examination of an earlier order issued by Justice Ambrose Lewis-Allagoa in Suit No. 1953, which had already addressed the matter at hand.
Justice Dipeolu found that the injunction sought by First Bank of Nigeria and FBNQUEST LTD had failed to disclose Justice Lewis-Allagoa’s order, making the Mareva injunction incompatible with the prior ruling.
The court concluded that First Bank had deliberately “suppressed facts” in order to mislead the court into granting the order against GHL.
As a result, the court set aside the freezing order on GHL’s accounts, as well as those of the other defendants involved in the case.
First Bank had initially sought the injunction via an ex-parte application, targeting GHL and 15 other entities despite the existence of an ongoing judgment. GHL and several of the defendants argued that the injunction had been procured through fraudulent misrepresentation and concealment of crucial facts. They contended that if all facts had been disclosed, the injunction would not have been granted.
In light of the court’s ruling, GHL has vowed to take legal action on a global scale. The company’s directors, who were also adversely affected by the injunction, have initiated proceedings seeking $1 billion each in damages for defamation and the wrongful freezing of their accounts.
Furthermore, GHL is pursuing a case against First Bank’s lawyers, Babajide Koku, SAN, and Victor Ogude SAN, before the Legal Practitioners Privileges Committee, alleging unprofessional conduct.