A firm, All Grain Foods Limited and its managing director, Chief Anthony Obidulu, have approached the Court of Appeal in Lagos to quash order on takeover of its properties.
In the suit filed at the appellate court, the Firm is seeking to overturn the verdict of two high court judges empowering a receiver-manager, Emmanuel Adeyeye Oyebanji, SAN, to take over the company for alleged indebtedness.
The appellants are praying the appellate court to set aside the judgment delivered by Justice H.R. Shagari of the Federal High Court, on February 23, 2018, in a suit between CSL Trustees Limited, a commercial bank and the Central Bank of Nigeria vs. All grain Foods Limited and Obidulu.
In another separate appeal, the Firm and its managing director are praying the appellate court to set aside the ruling, decisions and orders of Justice A. Lewis Allagoa of the Federal High Court, Lagos Division, made on October 18, 2021.
Justice Allagoa had in his verdicts ruled that the receiver-manager, Oyebanji, had the legal right to take possession of the appellants’ property due to the agreement between the parties in the credit facility offered the company.
However in its ground of appeal, the company and Obidulu held that the lower court judges erred in law, stating:
Meanwhile, lawyer to All grain Foods, Aloy Ezenduka, has raised the alarm that the receiver-manager has continued to take away the company’s property despite the fact that the case is still on appeal.
“Now, the government said before anybody can access that loan facility, you choose a bank and it has to be a bank for that particular facility and the bank should have access to the N400 billion; so, any money that is given out, you get a rebate from that fund. Instead of the said bank to do the needful, the bank went to the man’s factory, saw that he was producing noodles; saw that he had a very efficient working system with low overhead, so they wrote in that they were going to sponsor the man’s business 100%.
“Instead of giving the man an order of N100 million working capital, on their own, they said they wanted to give the man N350 million; but at the end of the day, they only gave the man N100 million from the facility and never gave the man the other tranche of money
“When I got into the matter, I found a new case asking the court to discharge or nullify the receiver-manager because, by the time he was appointed, the so-called facility was not due for payment. His six-month activity was supposed to expire in 2016, but Oyebanji was appointed receiver-manager in 2016. If you add the one year moratorium they gave, it would have ended in July 2017 and by that time they had already taken over the factory.
In a petition relating to the matter, Ezenduka, has asked the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, to investigate his senior colleague, Emmanuel Oyebanji, SAN, for alleged sale of his client’s assets worth N20 billion.
Dated January 7, 2024, Ezenduka noted that Oyebanji, who was appointed as receiver-manager by CSL Trustees Limited on behalf of the Bank, following a N350 million loan dispute, allegedly converted, stole and sold the assets belonging to Obidulu and his company, Allgrain Foods Limited, located at 15/17, Canal Avenue, Canal Estate, Okota, Lagos.
The petitioner said the actions of Oyebanji and the bank were reprehensible, as four court cases, two at the Appeal Court in Lagos (CA/L/CV/1021/2021 and CA/L/CV/1024/2021) and two at the High Court of Lagos State, were pending and trial ongoing.
He said the cases at the High Court of Lagos State were instituted by Obidulu against Oyebanji, his law firm and Bank, for trespassing over his property, alleging that despite the pendency of the suits, the defendants were discretely stealing and selling assets, comprising vehicles, heavy machinery and goods kept in the warehouse worth billions of naira.
The petitioner accused the defendant of acting on “a purported judgment on appeal that claimed that the bank was owed N350 million, when an audit report had shown that the company was not indebted to the bank or anyone.”
However, Oyebanji has dismissed the allegations as fallacious and a deliberate attempt at misrepresenting facts, noting that the sale of the properties was backed by court judgments.
“It is total fallacy and complete misinformation that the receiver has been stealing the assets of All grain Foods but, rather, the assets were legally disposed of by virtue of the judgment.
“There is no judgment or order from the Court of Appeal reversing the judgment of the Federal High Court,” Oyebanji said.
Meanwhile, the Bank’s group head of communication and branding, Mr. Diran Olojo has denied any looting by the bank, saying, “It is not possible for a serious organisation like ours to loot a company.
“The case is in the courts. Let the complainant wait for the decision of the court. Our Bank is a serious organisation and would not be involved in petty things.”
