Banks have fully complied with a Federal High Court ruling lifting the Mareva injunction placed on the assets linked to the directors and shareholders of General Hydrocarbons Limited, says the oil company.
While reacting to the court order on Wednesday, First Bank insisted that GHL and its directors were still under the shackles of court injunctions. The bank maintained that the oil company and its directors remain restrained from dealing with “and/or dissipating monies” in their respective accounts and assets.
However, in a statement, the oil company accused the bank of “maliciously and mischievously misinforming the public on the clear and unambiguous ruling by the learned judge.”
The GHL statement said the banks complied with the court order “in the face of false and misleading statements by FBN Chairman, Femi Otedola, Managing Director Olusegun Alebiosu and lawyers.”
“This falsehood is the latest in a pattern of deceit and dishonesty from First Bank of Nigeria, that has left the public shocked and disappointed that a supposedly first-rate financial institution in a constitutional democracy like Nigeria would go so low and consciously and wilfully disobey the law and continue to spread false information at will and without remorse,” the statement added.
The oil company said it would challenge the authenticity of the bank’s audited account used for its recent rights issue.
Recalling that First Bank secured the Mareva injunction through its non-disclosure of the subsisting judgment of the same Federal High Court, Lagos Division, GHL said it had been left to “file multiple cases across borders seeking damages for defamation, libel and breach of contract.”
The statement disclosed that GHL “will continue to seek justice worldwide against First Bank for breach of contract (by obtaining a benefit without complying with its obligations) after restating its financial statements with the critical support of GHL, who are now asking the courts to determine if First Bank’s audited accounts are correct in the face of non-compliance with conditions precedent for those restatements in 2021/2022 where their N306 billion loss became N151 billion profit as stated in their current Rights Issue.”
The rift between GHL and First Bank relates to a loan dispute linked to an Oil Mining Lease, alleging that the financial institution breached its obligations under the loan agreement.
