Court adjourns N17.8b debt suit Jan 30 to determine jurisdiction

Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke of the Federal High Court, Lagos has adjourned until January 30, 2025, to determine whether it has jurisdiction to continue hearing the suit filed by Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank) against Afex Exchange Commodities Limited, over an alleged N17,808,452,467.17 debt.

The Judge adjourned the matter after hearing arguments from Chief Ajibola Aribisala (SAN), counsel for the plaintiff (GTBank), and Professor Wale Olawoyin (SAN), counsel for Afex Commodities Exchange Limited.

In his address to the court, Aribisala challenged the appearance of Prof. Olawoyin, citing Order 17(5) of the Rules of Professional Conduct for Legal Practitioners, which prohibits a lawyer from appearing as counsel in a case where the lawyer is a party.

Aribisala informed the court that Prof. Olawoyin filed an appeal against a ruling of the court, which does not affect his client and argued that it is contemptuous.

He urged the court to proceed with contempt proceedings filed on November 19, 2024, asserting that his right to appear as a legal practitioner in the case had been suspended.

In response, Prof. Olawoyin noted that the matter was scheduled for mention and that the issue of contempt was not yet due for hearing.

He further informed the court that the defendant had filed a Notice of Appeal, transmitted records of appeal, and filed a brief of arguments.

Olawoyin also highlighted a pending motion before the court for stay of proceedings, stressing that the court does not have jurisdiction to continue to entertain the matter.

“The issue of contempt is not before the court at this stage. When the contempt proceedings are due for hearing, we will address the matter of legal representation.

“There is an appeal and a motion for a stay of proceedings, and therefore, the court cannot deal with any other issues at this time but must await the outcome of the appeal,” he argued.

In response, Justice Aneke emphasised that the court must first rule on whether it has jurisdiction to continue hearing the case before any other application can be entertained and adjourned the matter to January 30, 2025, for a ruling.

The court had previously barred Afex from disputing the claims in the suit, based on its interpretation of the Global Standing Instruction (GSI) in a facility letter dated June 16, 2022.

Dissatisfied with this ruling, Afex filed a Notice of Appeal and requested a stay of proceedings pending the outcome of the appeal.

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The application seeks to prevent the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) from enforcing the ex-parte order.

It also seeks a stay of proceedings in suit marked FHC/L/CS/911/2024 until the appeal is resolved.

In support of the motion, Mayowa Ajide, a litigation clerk for Afex’s counsel, deposed that the trial court had ordered all commercial banks in Nigeria to transfer N17,808,452,467.17 from Afex’s accounts to GTBank’s account.

He stated that the ex-parte order was based on a flawed interpretation of the GSI and filed a motion on May 31, 2024, to have the order vacated.

He added that the situation became more contentious when GTBank initiated contempt proceedings against Afex on May 31, 2024, followed by similar proceedings against several banks on June 11, 2024, for allegedly failing to comply with the court’s orders.

Ajide swore: “On June 10, 2024, the trial court focused on the contempt proceedings instead of considering Afex’s application to set aside the ex-parte orders.

“The case was adjourned multiple times, with Afex raising legal objections, including challenging the competence of the judge to hear contempt proceedings related to her own orders.

“The appeal raises significant legal issues, and Afex has requested an injunction pending the appeal, along with a stay of proceedings.”

The appellant argued that failure to grant the stay would undermine the appeal and deny Afex fair hearing.