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| Stella Oduah |
The Federal High Court in Lagos on Wednesday restrained
Senator Stella Oduah, along with Sea Petroleum and Gas Company Limited and its
directors, from making any withdrawals from the account of the company.
The order is in connection with an issue before the court of
their indebtedness of over $16.4 million and N100.4 million.
The
court also forbade them from withdrawing any funds from the accounts of three
other companies in 21 commercial banks listed before it. The affected
companies are: Sea Shipping Agency Limited, Rotary Engineering Services
Limited, and Tour Afrique Company Limited.
The
court further granted an order directing the said commercial banks having
assets belonging to Ms. Oduah and the four companies to sequestrate up to the
indebtedness of the Senator and Sea Petroleum and Gas Company Limited in the
sum of their indebtedness as of November 2016, and maintain the sums in an
interest-yielding account in the name of the Chief Registrar of the Federal
High Court pending the determination of the suit filed at the court to recover
the debt.
The
order of the court follows an affidavit sworn to by the business manager of
Maritime of Sterling Bank, Segun Akinsanya, and filed and argued before the
court by a Lagos lawyer, Kemi Balogun.
In
the affidavit, Akinsanya averred that on October 8, 2012, the bank granted a
lease/cabotage vessel finance facility to Sea Petroleum and Gas Company in the
sum of $10,069,620.25 to finance one unit 5,000MT tanker vessel..
The
loan was secured by unconditional personal guarantee of the company’s director,
Ms. Oduah, supported by a statement of her net worth, legal mortgage of two
properties worth N135million, power of Attorney of the tanker vessel in favour
of Sterling Bank and a fully executed and irrevocable standing payment order
and tripartite remittance agreement between First Bank, Sterling Bank and Ms.
Oduah.
It
was further averred that between June 27, 2013 Sea Petroleum Company requested
for and was granted additional facilities in the sum of $449,600.00 for
post-delivery expenses, $642,954.00 and $350,000 to meet the requisite
conditions in securing of the Federal High Court in securing the release of the
tanker.
According
to the affidavit, upon the persistent failure of the defendants to liquidate
their indebtedness, Sterling Bank instructed the law firm of Oluwakemi Balogun
to recover the debt.
But
despite several reminders, demands, pleas and persuasion by the bank and its
solicitor, the defendants did not liquidate their indebtedness which stood at
over $16.4 million and N100.4 million in November 2016.
Akinsanya
also averred that the defendants are also greatly indebted to a number of banks
and have conceded a number of Assets to AMCON, which has stepped into the shoes
of those banks, raising the imminent risk of the defendants dissipating the
assets of the companies. He therefore urged the court to grant the order
restraining Ms. Oduah and other directors of Sea Petroleum and Gas from
withdrawing money from the account of the companies in the 21 listed banks
until final determination of the debt recovery suit.
Meanwhile,
based on an ex-parte application filed and argued before the court by Mr.
Balogun that it has been difficult to serve court processes and orders on the
defendants, Justice Abdulaziz Anka ordered that the documents should be
advertised in the newspapers.
Ms.
Oduah and her companies, urging the court to discharge the order made against
them, also filed a preliminary objection to the suit. They asked the
court to strike out the action as the court lacks jurisdiction to entertain the
suit. Mr. Balogun vehemently opposed the two applications.
Justice
Anka adjourned the matter to March 2017 for a decision on whether to vacate the
order or not.
BY SAHARA REPORTERS
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