RUSAL Defies Supreme Court Judgment, Denies BFIG Group Access to ALSCON Plant in A’Ibom

Okon Bassey in Uyo

Russian company, RUSAL, has flouted the judgment of the Supreme Court and denied the representatives of the BFIG Corporation access to the Aluminum Smelting Company of Nigeria (ALSCON) plant located in Ikot Abasi Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State.
The BFIG group led by its President, Reuben Jaja, and representatives of the Bureau of Public Enterprise (BPE) were denied access to the plant while on an official tour to evaluate the state of the plant since the Supreme Court judgment on January 26, 2024.

The apex court had ruled in favour of the BFIG group in the suit filed by the BPE, but the RUSAL, currently managing the smelters, insisted that it had secured a judgment from the London Court of Arbitration that ALSCON had been properly privatised.
The ALSCON gate was locked and mounted by the Nigerian Army when officials of the BFIG group arrived at the premises with hordes of its workers and supporters.
It took several hours of persuasion for officials of ALSCON to allow only two representatives of BFIG to go in and hold talks with the Russians while the rest waited in the scorching sun for more than four hours.
Fielding questions from journalists at the ALSCON gate, lead counsel to the BFIG group, Chief Patrick Ikwueto (SAN), said they were in ALSCON to begin the enforcement of the Supreme Court judgment of January 26, 2024.

“We are here because following the last Supreme Court judgment over the ALSCON matter, the one that was given on the 26th of January, 2024, we had a meeting with the Attorney General of the Federation and the BPE and we agreed on many things we have to do to fully enforce the Supreme Court judgment given on ALSCON since 2012. Part of what we agreed on was that we should have a visit to the ALSCON facility here in Ikot Abasi,” he explained.
Ikwueto said the BFIG representatives had limited access to the premises.

ALSCON’s Managing Director, Dmitriy Zaviyalov, had told the media during interaction in Uyo that ALSCON had never been a party to the Supreme Court, adding that it had agreed with the Nigerian government that the last court of Arbitration would be the London Court of Arbitration.
“You should understand that ALSCON is not a party to these suits in question. The BPE approached the Supreme Court taking BFIG to court, BPE is a representative of the Nigerian government that holds a small stake in ALSCON.
“Equally, you should understand that in our agreement with the Nigerian government, it was agreed that the last court of Arbitration would be the London Court of Arbitration,” he said

But reacting to ALSCON’s claim, Ikwueto said the Supreme Court in its last judgment, underscored that the agreement was in itself a contempt of the court.
“While we were in court in 2004 and 2006, the Russians purportedly signed an agreement with BPE. That agreement was signed while the matter was still pending before the court.
“But the Supreme Court of Nigeria in 2012 was specific that there was an order of injunction perpetually restraining the BPE from negotiating, attempting, selling or transferring ALSCON to anybody. So, the Arbitration that you are talking about was based on the SPA they claimed to have signed in 2006 while the matter was pending in court.

“The Supreme Court in its last judgment on 26th January 2024 underscores that the agreement was, in itself, a contempt of the court” Ikwueto stated.

Meanwhile, youths of Ikot-Abasi LGA had earlier staged a protest to register their grievances against the Russians for locking the gate against the BFIG group.

The protesters displayed placards of various inscriptions, expressing their happiness over the Supreme Court judgment which declared BFIG group the authentic owners of ALSCON.