A petition against Seplat Energy filed by Moses Igbrude, Sarat Kudaisi, Kenneth Nnabike, Ajani Abidoye, and Robert Ibekwe has been struck out by the federal high court sitting in Lagos, on Tuesday, the company said in a release.
The petition commenced on March 8, 2023, in Suit No. FHC/L/CP/402/2023 – Moses Igbrude & 4 others V. Seplat & 2 others.
As previously announced by the energy firm, the petition led to ex parte Interim Orders that ordered Roger Brown to step aside as the CEO of the Company. However, the Court later vacated the Orders on April 6, 2023.
According to a statement signed by Basil Omiyi, board chairman of Seplat, it came to the knowledge of the court at the hearing that the petitioners had prepared a Notice of discontinuance dated April 13, 2023 and filed on April 18, 2023.
“The Petitioners inexplicably delayed service of the Discontinuance Notice on Seplat and its Officers until yesterday and today, respectively,” the statement read in part. “The Court, therefore, struck out the Petition and ordered the Petitioners to pay costs to Roger Brown in the amount of N1 million.”
The statement revealed that this judicial outcome follows yesterday’s suspension by the Court of Appeal of the ex parte Interim Orders granted by the Federal High Court (Abuja) in Suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/626/2023 – Juliet Gbaka & 2 others v. Seplat Energy Plc & 13 others.
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“The Moses Igbrude Petition was the first in the successive line of petitions commenced against Seplat Energy between March and April 2023 by a combination of 13 minority shareholders holding less than 800 shares out of 589 million shares (or 0.0001 percent of the Company’s issued shares).
“Also, the Moses Igbrude petition introduced the onslaught of false and orchestrated allegations against the Company, its CEO, and its Directors/Officers, which formed the basis of the actions taken by the Ministry of Interior and the criminal charge brought against Seplat Energy and its Officers, which was promptly withdrawn by the Nigeria Immigration Service while the Company and its Officers were entirely discharged by the Federal High Court (Abuja) in April 2023,” the statement read.
However, Seplat Energy has reiterated its confidence in the Nigerian Judiciary as it continues its systematic resolution of these orchestrated and frivolous litigations, which are aimed at disrupting the smooth operations of the Company.
According to the indigenous energy company, this announcement is made pursuant to Rule 17.10 of the Rulebook of the Nigerian Exchange, 2015 (Issuer’sRule).
