The Federal High Court sitting in Makurdi, the Benue State capital, has adjourned the case between Benue Investment and Property Company and the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation and All States Trust Bank (in-liquidation) till May 5, 2025, for further hearing.
The plaintiff, a company owned by the Benue State government, has dragged NDIC and All States Trust Bank (in-liquidation) to the Federal High Court, Makurdi, over illegal sales of its shares and breach of contract agreement.
The plaintiff in the suit averred that it applied for a loan facility of N550m from the Federal Mortgage Bank and pledged some of its shares to All States Bank (in-liquidation) for the bank to guarantee the loan.
It further argued that the respondents, who did not fulfil their part of the contract agreements, charged the company arbitrarily and sold its shares placed in their custody as collateral.
It, therefore, urged the court to order the respondents to pay N2.6bn as loss of income for its inability to trade with stocks which were pledged as collateral and have been with them since 2002.
“They should also pay the shares which, in 2007, were valued at over N740m at the time of transaction and have appreciated to over N5.5bn.
“They should also pay N99.5m being proceeds of the shares illegally sold and N62.8m being the value of lost dividends and bonuses over the period,” the plaintiff prayed in the suit.
It asked the court to order the respondents to pay N2bn as general damages.
It was learnt that the case, which started in 2011, was put on hold because the NDIC requested for out-of-court settlement and both parties went to the Arbitration Panel in Abuja.
It was also reported that the panel could not resolve the matter because the NDIC later preferred to continue with the case in court.
When the case came up for hearing in Makurdi, on Wednesday, counsel to the plaintiff, Douglas Pepe (SAN) called one of the chief witnesses, Paul Agu, a former staff and MD/CEO of the company.
Agu told the court that the plaintiff applied for a loan facility of N550m from the Federal Mortgage Bank and pledged some of its shares to All States Bank (in liquidation) for the bank to guarantee the loan.
He said the money was to come through the liquidated bank, adding that the bank was to take its commission and stand as the guarantor before the mortgage bank.
He said the bank failed to meet its contractual agreements with the plaintiff, despite that it started deducting charges from the company’s account.
He said the bank also failed to complete the process of opening the letter of credit as required in such cases.
The counsel, through the star witness, tendered 32 documents to support their position.
Among the documents tendered were bank statements of the plaintiff in All States Bank (in-liquidation) between August 1, 2002 and December 31, 2003.
He also tendered details of transfers of shares sold by the respondents and closed their case.
Counsel for the respondents, Aondover Iorngee, after cross-examining the witness, requested the date for defence.
Justice Rafael Egbe ordered that the case be adjourned to May 5, 2025, for further hearing.
