Seplat Energy Plc, an indigenous energy company, has requested the Court of Appeal to overturn Justice Inyang Ekwo’s decision from the Federal High Court in Abuja that granted the company and several of its officials an ex parte interim order.
The board chairman, the designated independent non-executive directors, the chief operating officer, and the company secretary were prohibited from acting in any capacity as Seplat Energy officers or managing the company’s affairs after Justice Ekwo granted the temporary ex parte order.
However, Seplat requests that the Appellate Court grant the appeal and reverse the lower court’s ruling in its Notice of Appeal, which was sent to the Federal High Court registry on May 11.2023.
Seplat also says that the lower court erred in law and occasioned grave injustice by granting the order despite pending applications before it.
The company said the order affected it adversely and was an abuse of the court process as it lacks jurisdiction on the issue.
Seplat’s external Counsel, Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Bode Olanipekun, said the interim orders were obtained by three shareholders who cumulatively have about 161 shares (about 0.00027%) out of over 500 million issued shares of the company.
Olanipekun noted that there are special procedures for the removal of directors of a company under the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) and the same was not the basis for the removal of Seplat’s directors in this instance.
He asked all parties to allow the judicial process to take its course.