The Annual General Meeting, AGM, of Seplat Energy Plc slated for Wednesday 10th May 2023 will hold as scheduled.
This follows the decision of the Federal High Court in Abuja which adjourned to May 31, 2023 a suit by some shareholders seeking to stop the AGM. There were fears that the hearing in the suit could thwart the holding of the AGM.
The presiding judge, Hon. Justice Inyang Ekwo has ordered that all the respondents should be served before the matter can be taken.
The Federal High Court declined to accede to the request by Boniface Okezie and four others who filed Suit No. FHC/ABJ/PET/8/2023 seeking an ex-parte Interim Order to restrain Seplat from holding its AGM May 10. The court adjourned hearing on the petition to May 31 and the AGM will therefore go ahead.
The suit before Justice Inyang Ekwo was brought by Boniface Okezie, Bon. Bright Nwabuogwu, John Isesele, Okonkwo Timothy, and Augustine Ezechukwu (Petitioners/Applicants) against Seplat Energy PLC; company CEO, Mr. Roger Brown; Board Chairman, Mr. Basil Omiyi; as well as Independent Non-Executive Directors of the company, Dr. Charles Okeahialam, Prof. Fabian Ajogwu, Rabiu Bello, Mrs. Bashirat Odenewu, Emma Fitzgerald; Company Secretary/Legal Adviser, Mrs. Edith Onwuchekwa, and the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC).
All parties except the 1st Respondent, Seplat Energy, informed the Court that they have not been served, as ordered. The 1st Respondent also informed the Court that they have filed an affidavit to show cause and a preliminary objection on jurisdiction and the fact that a similar petition was pending at the Federal High Court in Lagos.
The Court ordered that the right thing should be done and that the CAC should be served against the next hearing date.
In a statement, Seplat, through its Board Chairman, Mr. Basil Omiyi, refuted all allegations made in the petitions which, given their almost identical wording to a separate petition filed at the Federal High Court in Lagos, have been described as clearly being part of an attempt to damage the company in response to its efforts to improve corporate governance by eliminating related party transactions and implementing other governance initiatives.
Meanwhile, Seplat has announced that the Federal High Court in Abuja has formally struck out the criminal charge brought by the Nigeria Immigration Service against the company and some of its Officers, adding that the Court has fully discharged all named defendants. The charge was filed earlier by the Nigeria Immigration Service on 20th April, 2023 in relation to the immigration status of Seplat’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Roger Brown and the withdrawal of his immigration visa by the Ministry of Interior.
The Company had previously announced that it has submitted all required documentation to the immigration authorities and it continues to cooperate with them.
