The Federal High Court in Abuja has fixed September 24 to rule on several applications in the case of businessman Abubakar Ismaila Isa, who claims that his 43 million shares were allegedly transferred to Emerging Markets Telecommunication Services Limited, operating under the trade name 9mobile, without his consent.
The matter, as argued before Justice Mohammed Umar on Wednesday, was filed by Isa’s legal team led by Femi Atteh, SAN, in suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/1971/2024.
The plaintiff seeks an order declaring him the “beneficial owner of the 43,000,000 (forty-three million) ordinary shares held in trust for him by the 1st Defendant (Seltrix Limited) in the capital of the 3rd Defendant (Teleology Nigeria Limited).”
He accuses Seltrix Limited of purportedly transferring the said shares to 9mobile without his consent, resulting in the alleged illegal change of control of 9mobile to LH Telecommunication Limited by the Corporate Affairs Commission and Nigerian Communications Commission.
Joined as defendants in the suit are Seltrix Limited, Hayatu Hassan Hadeija, Teleology Nigeria Limited, Mohammed Edewor, Emerging Markets Telecommunications Limited, CAC, NCC, LH Telecommunication Limited, and General Theophilus Yakubu Danjuma (Rtd) (first to ninth defendants).
Facts of the Plaintiff’s Claim
As seen in the written address of the plaintiff’s lawyer’s counter-affidavit, Isa argues that he “entrusted the 1st and 2nd Defendants (Seltrix Limited and Hayatu Hassan Hadeija) with 43,000,000 shares held by Seltrix in the capital of the 3rd Defendant (Teleology Nigeria Limited), who, at all times material to this suit, is the majority and controlling shareholder of the 5th Defendant with eighty-nine point nine percent (89.9%) shares.”
According to court documents, Teleology Nigeria Limited entered into a Term Facility Loan Agreement with the African Export-Import Bank (AFREXIM) and secured a loan for the acquisition of controlling shares in 9mobile.
The plaintiff alleges that Teleology secured the loan by “encumbering the shares it acquired in the capital of the 5th Defendant (9mobile).”
reportedly acquired by Teleology Nigeria Limited in 2018 after a bidding process led by Barclays Africa, with the participation of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC), and 13 Nigerian banks including GT Bank, Zenith Bank, Access Bank, and others.
The acquisition process was concluded with an initial deposit of $50 million and a further payment of $251 million as settlement to the banks that took over the company at the time.
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