Justice Dehinde Dipeolu of the Federal High Court in Lagos has overturned a Mareva injunction that had frozen the assets of General Hydrocarbons Ltd (GHL) and its directors.
The court upheld arguments presented by GHL’s counsel, Abiodun Layonu, SAN, asserting that the injunction was in violation of an existing order issued by a court of concurrent jurisdiction.
In his ruling, Justice Dipeolu noted that the Mareva injunction should be annulled in light of an earlier order given by Justice Ambrose Lewis-Allagoa in Suit No. 1953.
The court determined that First Bank of Nigeria and FBNQUEST LTD, the parties who had sought the injunction, did not adequately disclose Justice Lewis-Allagoa’s order, rendering the Mareva injunction incompatible with the prior ruling.
Consequently, the court found that First Bank had intentionally “suppressed facts” in order to mislead the court, which led to the issuance of the order against GHL.
As a result, the court had no alternative but to invalidate the order that had restricted GHL’s accounts.
First Bank had approached the court with an ex-parte application against General Hydrocarbons Limited and 15 other entities, despite the existence of a conflicting judicial decision.
In response to the suit, GHL contended that the order freezing its assets and accounts should be discharged, emphasizing that the court had been misled into granting the injunction.
GHL asserted that the order was procured through fraudulent misrepresentation and the concealment of essential facts.
The company and its co-applicants alleged that, had all pertinent information been presented to the trial judge, the order would not have been issued.
The trial judge ultimately supported GHL’s arguments and consequently set aside the freezing order.
The directors of GHL, who were adversely affected by the ex parte freezing order, have initiated legal proceedings internationally against First Bank, seeking $1 billion each in damages for defamation and the wrongful freezing of their accounts.
Additionally, GHL is filing a complaint with the Legal Practitioners Privileges Committee against First Bank lawyers Babajide Koku, SAN, and Victor Ogude, SAN, for unprofessional conduct.