First Bank Chairman, MD convicted, risk being jailed

The duo of Chairman, First Bank of Nigeria Limited, Ibukun Awosika, and Managing Director, Dr. Adesola Adeduntan, both risk going to jail.

A Federal High Court in Lagos on Wednesday convicted both of them of contempt of court, asserting that they would be jailed, if they failed to purge themselves of the contempt by September 6, 2018.

The court dismissed their preliminary objection to a contempt charge brought against them by Ejama-Ebubu community in Eleme Local Government Area of Rivers State.

The court found them guilty of refusal of the bank to release N17 billion plus interests that First Bank allegedly guaranteed to pay the community on behalf of Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) of Nigeria Limited in respect of the judgment debt against SPDC in an oil spill suit filed by the community.

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Justice Ibrahim Buba, however, suspended the sentencing for three months to enable the bank and its officials to purge themselves of the contempt.

The Judge said if the convicts failed to purge themselves of the contempt by September 6, they would be sent to prison.

In a substantive suit, ten indigenes of Ejama community in Ogoniland had sued Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Netherlands; Royal Dutch Shell Plc, United Kingdom; and SPDC over alleged oil spills that occurred when Shell operated in the community at the Federal High Court in Port Harcourt.

Justice Buba had in his judgement in 2010 awarded N17 billion to the representatives of the community, as well as 25 per cent interest on the principal sum, among other reliefs.

SPDC then appealed against the judgement and applied for a stay of excellence execution of the judgement pending the appeal.

 

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