Alleged Racism: Court Strikes Out Suit against Seplat’s CEO, Brown, Omiyi, Others

•Awards N1m cost against plaintiffs

Wale Igbintade

Justice Chukwuejekwu Aneke of the Federal High Court in Lagos, yesterday, struck out the suit filed by some aggrieved shareholders against Seplat Energy, its Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Roger Brown, and the Chairman, Board of Directors, Mr. Basil Omiyi, over alleged racism.

Justice Aneke struck out the suit after lawyer to the stakeholders, Mr. Ayodele Arotiowa, informed the court of his clients’ intention to withdraw the suit.

The aggrieved stakeholders who were petitioners in the suit marked FHC/L/402/2023, included Moses Igbrude, Sarat Kudaisi, Kenneth Nnabike, Ajani Abidoye, and Robert Ibekwe, with Seplat Energy Plc, Mr. Brown and Omiyi listed as first to third defendants.

The petitioners were asking the court for an order of mandatory injunction restraining the second respondent (Brown) from parading himself as the Chief Executive Officer of Seplat or work for Seplat in any other capacity.

They equally sought an order restraining Seplat and the company’s Board Chairman from retaining Brown as the CEO of Seplat or retaining his services for Seplat in any capacity.

The plaintiffs’ allegations against Brown was that he running the affairs of the company in an illegal, unfairly prejudicial and oppressive manner.

They also sought orders restraining the Managing Director and Independent Non-Executive Directors of the company from allegedly running its affairs unfairly. The orders were granted by the court on March 8, 2023.

However, upon the hearing of the argument of respective counsel to Seplat and its Directors as to why the interim application should not have been granted and why it was necessary for it to be set aside, on April 6, 2023, Justice Aneke vacated the ex-parte order earlier made on March 8, 2023.

The court had thereafter adjourned the matter to May 16, 2023, for hearing of the petitioners’ motion on notice seeking to join certain Independent Non-Executive Directors of Seplat as parties to the suit.

But at the resumed hearing of the substantive suit yesterday, counsel to the petitioners, Mr. Ayodele Arotiowa, surprisingly informed the court that his clients had filed notice of withdrawal and were no longer willing to continue with the suit.

Addressing the court, Seplat’s counsel, Mr. Uzoma Azikiwe, told the court that his client had filed an appeal challenging the jurisdiction of the court to entertain the suit and urged the court to suspend all proceedings pending determination of the appeal.

For his part, counsel to Seplat’s CEO, Mr. Kayode Adesina, informed the court that the notice of withdrawal filed by the petitioners was served on him in court, after the appeal challenging the jurisdiction of the court had been entered at the Court of Appeal, Lagos Division.

He submitted that the petitioners filed their notice of discountenance on April 18, 2023, but decided to serve the respondents in court.

While not opposing the notice of discontinuance, he asked the court to award the sum of N10 million as cost against the petitioners for the delay in serving the notice of discontinuance, which counsel to the petitioners blamed on the court’s bailiff.  In his ruling, Justice Aneke struck out the suit and ordered the petitioners to pay N1 million to the second and third respondents.