Obajana Cement Factory: Court Told To Halt Hearing In Kogi’s Suit

Dangote Industries Limited has told a High Court of Justice in Kogi State, to stay further proceedings in the suit filed against it by the state government over the Obajana Cement factory dispute.

The state government in a suit marked: HCL/94/2022, is challenging the validity of the 2002 and 2003 agreement between the state and Dangote on the ownership transfer of Obajana Cement to Dangote Industries Ltd.

The request for a stay of further proceedings is contained in a fresh motion filed by Dangote through its lawyers, Paul Usoro (SAN) and Reuben Atabo (SAN).

Specifically, Dangote is praying the court to issue “an order staying further proceedings in this suit pending reference to arbitration and the conclusion of the arbitral proceedings and settlement of the dispute declared hereby by the claimant pursuant to and in accordance with the arbitration agreement contained in the agreement between the parties that was executed on the 30th day of July 2002.”

Governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Abia State, High Chief Ikechi Emenike, has recorded another victory at the Court of Appeal.

The Owerri Division of the appellate court affirmed his candidacy of the party.

In its judgment yesterday, the Appeal Court dismissed the appeal filed by Daniel Eke Vs APC & ORS in Appeal No.

CA/OW/419/2022.

Eke, who was a governorship aspirant on the platform of APC in Abia had challenged the outcome of the May 26, 2022 primary election on the ground that the process did not comply with both the Electoral Act and party guidelines.

He lost the case at the Federal High Court Umuahia where it was dismissed by Justice Evelyn Anyadike on the ground that he lacked the locus to institute the matter. Not done, Eke went to the Appeal Court, Owerri to challenge the verdict of the court of first instance.

But in the judgment read by Hon Justice Pemu Rita Nosakhare, the three judges in the appeal panel unanimously held that the indirect primary election conducted by APC that produced High Chief Ikechi Emenike as the gubernatorial candidate of APC in Abia State was valid.

The appellate court further held that APC has the right to determine its mode of primaries and conduct its primaries by any chosen method as was done in Abia where the party used indirect mode to conduct its governorship primary.

The court also held that the name of Emenike should be published by INEC as the rightful and validly nominated gubernatorial candidate of APC in Abia State.