The United Bank for Africa Plc has approached the Federal High Court in Lagos, seeking to be joined as a defendant in an ongoing suit contesting the purported sale of the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company.
The ongoing suit, marked FHC/L/CS/418/2025, was originally filed by 86 Gardens Limited against Archlight Nigeria Limited, Abiodun Jamiu Owonikoko (SAN) of Synergy Attornies, and the Corporate Affairs Commission.
The plaintiff, represented by Mr Seni Adio (SAN), is seeking several declaratory and injunctive reliefs, primarily focused on the enforcement of a Share Sales Agreement and a Tripartite Custody Agreement relating to the acquisition of 60 per cent equity in IBEDC from the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria.
86 Gardens is seeking court declarations that Archlight Nigeria breached agreements by refusing to transfer 50 per cent of its equity as stipulated, and that Owonikoko, acting as custodian, failed to release or file key share transfer documents.
The plaintiff also alleged conflicts of interest and is demanding specific performance of the agreements, recognition by CAC, and N100m in general damages.
At the hearing on Friday, UBA’s counsel, Temilolu Adamolekun, argued for the bank’s joinder, describing UBA as a critical stakeholder in the matter due to its role as one of the lenders that financed the 2013 acquisition of IBEDC shares by Integrated Energy Distribution and Marketing Company Limited.
UBA’s motion, dated May 15, 2025, was brought under Order 9 Rule 24 of the Federal High Court (Civil Procedure) Rules 2019.
The bank contended that it holds a 21.54 per cent stake in the IEDM’s 60 per cent interest in IBEDC, stemming from a $162.4m loan facility jointly provided by several banks.
Seni Adio (SAN) then stated that on the part of the party seeking to be joined, they were at a loss as to the interest they sought to protect, as the issue of “preferred bidder” was long gone.
In his submission, Babatunde Ogala (SAN), counsel for the first defendant, told the court that they had a housekeeping application and had equally filed all processes in the suit.
Ogala told Justice Musa Kakaki that they were equally served with a motion for joinder by an intervener, one of the lenders to the original Mortgagor, whose debt had been sold to AMCON.
The second defendant lawyer, Victor Okpara (SAN), told the court that they had filed a conditional appearance on May, 15, 2025, and a motion to regularise their process dated May, 15, 2025.
They had equally filed a counter-affidavit to the originating summons and a counter-affidavit to the interlocutory injunction.
They confirmed receipt of the process filed by the intervener and intend to respond.
Adamolekun, responding to the first defendant’s counsel, said it was one of the misconceptions they intended to correct, adding that the party seeking to be joined had at no point sold its interest to AMCON.
Adamolekun told the court that he noticed that the parties mentioned several applications and had sought a date to hear them.
He said that while the nature of the applications was unknown to them, an application for joinder took priority over any other application so that, if need be, the party seeking to be joined could respond to all pending applications before the court after it had been joined.
Ogala stated that a notice of preliminary objection takes priority over any other application and, therefore, would be heard first.
But Adamolekun insisted that it was not in all situations that a notice of preliminary objection would take priority.
Justice Musa Kakaki adjourned further hearing in the suit to July 16, 2025.
An affidavit in support of the motion deposed to by one Afamefuna Ogbonna, a staff of UBA, read: “This suit was brought by the plaintiff/respondent against the defendants/respondents claiming entitlement to the 50 per cent equity shareholding in the 1st defendant/respondent, already signed over to it, pursuant to the Custody Agreement, Share Sales Agreement, and the Share Transfer Forms together with the other accompanying documents (collectively, the “Security Documents”) and contingent only upon the 1st defendant/respondent emerging as a preferred bidder by AMCON with respect to AMCON’s sale of sixty (60) per cent of the ownership interest in the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company Plc.