A three-man panel of the Court of Appeal, Lagos Division, led by Justice Obande Ogbuinya, has granted leave to chairman of Global Fleet Group, Jimoh Ibrahim, to re-file two applications challenging the seizure of his assets and freezing of his bank accounts by Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), over allegations of N69.4 billion debt earlier struck out for being incompetent.
Two other judges on the panel, Justices Abubakar Umar and A.I Banjoko, had agreed with the lead judgment and the consequential orders it delivered, giving the appellants 14 days to obtain Leave to Appeal, that is, an approval to re-file the appeal if they wish and Jimoh Ibrahim and his Global Fleet Group had consequently filed a fresh notice of appeal.
In the fresh Notice of Appeal filed on their behalf by Chief Niyi Akintola and dated December 13, 2021 but filed December 14, 2021, the appellants had complained about the entire decisions of the lower court.
The appeal is predicated on 11 grounds on which the appellants are asking the court to set aside the decision of Justice Aikawa for erring in law when it made an order directing AMCON to take over the appellants’ assets and seize their bank accounts.
Ground one of the appeal argued that “the learned trial judge erred in law when he placed reliance on Section 49 of AMCON Act 2018 to come to the wrongful conclusion that AMCON will be helpless if the ex parte orders of November 4, 2020 were not made,” adding that the case of the plaintiffs are that Section 49 of the said Act is not applicable in the instant case as there was no debt yet ascertained as found by Justice J. Oguntoyinbo in her ruling of October 2, 2019 in suit FHC/L/CS/776/2016.
They further argued that the learned trial court was wrong to place reliance on Section 49 of AMCON Act when the ruling of Oguntoyinbo indicated that there were no debts.
For ground two, they submitted that the learned trial court erred in law when it refused the prayers of the appellants to set aside the ex parte orders of November 4, 2020 by holding that the ex parte application dated March 20, 2020 upon which the said orders are predicated is permissible in law and is preservative.
On ground three, it was submitted that the learned trial judge erred in law in refusing the prayers of the appellants in their motion on notice dated November 19, 2020, seeking among others the setting aside of the ex parte order of November 4, 2020, having been made without jurisdiction.
They are praying for an order of court setting aside the ruling of the lower court delivered by Justice Aikawa of the Federal High Court, Lagos on February 16, 2021 in Suit No. FHC/L/CS/776/2016 and an order invoking the provisions of Section 15 of the Court of Appeal Act, and to hear and determine the appellants’ motion on notice dated November 19, 2020 as if same has been filed before the honourable court as well as an order setting aside the ex parte orders made by Justice Aikawa of the Federal High Court on November 4, 2020 in Suit No. FHC/L/ CS/776/2016.
No date has been fixed for the hearing of the fresh appeal. AMCON had, on November 4, 2020 obtained an ex parte order against NICON Investment Limited, Global Fleet Oil and Gas Limited and Jimoh Ibrahim, freezing their accounts in various banks, as well as attaching various properties of the companies, over the alleged debt.
The properties include the building of NICON Investment Limited at Plot 242, Muhammadu Buhari Way, Central Business District, Abuja; NICON Hotels Limited building at Plot 557, Port Harcourt Crescent, off Gimbiya Street, Abuja and the building of NICON Lekki Limited at No. 5, Customs Street, Lagos, among others.