The judgment of the Court of Appeal Lagos, which nullified the takeover of Suru Worldwide Ventures Nigeria Limited’s landed property by AMCON, has been affirmed by the Supreme Court.
In his ruling, Justice Emmanuel Agim rejected the appeal that AMCON had filed, upheld the lower court’s ruling to block the company’s takeover, and directed that a new hearing be held at the High Court.
“I don’t think this appeal is worth it. Agim said, “The decision of the appellate court is hereby upheld.”
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In a lead decision written by Justice Ugochukwu Ogakwu, the appellate court determined that the takeover order proceedings were null and void because AMCON neglected to include Suru Worldwide Ventures Nigeria Limited as a defendant in its lawsuit filed with the Federal High Court.
The court also ordered that the matter be returned to the Federal High Court for a fresh hearing.
When AMCON failed to make payments on a loan taken out from the now-defunct Oceanic Bank, a Federal High Court in Lagos ordered that AMCON take possession of the company’s assets.
In order to exercise its possessory rights as a legal mortgagee under the Deeds of Legal Mortgage over the landed properties of Suru Worldwide Ventures Nigeria Limited, AMCON had prayed to the court to order security agencies to provide it with protection.
However, Suru Worldwide Ventures Nigeria Limited filed an appeal against the ruling, claiming that its exclusion from the defendant list prevented it from receiving a fair trial.
NAN
