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Edo To Appeal Jailing Attorney-General

The Edo state Government has vowed to appeal the court order which committed the state Attorney-General to jail in the suit between the state Government … Continue reading Edo To Appeal Jailing Attorney-General


Court Gavel

The Edo state Government has vowed to appeal the court order which committed the state Attorney-General to jail in the suit between the state Government and the Church Gate Industries over the ownership of Bendel Breweries.

Court Gavel

The Edo state Commissioner of Information, Louis Odion, disclosed this on Wenesday in a press briefing in Benin. However, he said till today the trial judge Justice Adamu Hobon is yet to issue a certified copy of his order of committal which will enable the government seek an appeal.

A Federal High Court sitting in Benin City, the Edo State capital, had on Monday, ordered the remand of the state attorney-general and Commissioner of Justice, Osagie Obayuwana, over the non-compliance of the state government with an interlocutory injunction it gave in a suit involving it and a private investor, Churchgate Industries Limited.

The presiding judge, Justice Adamu Hobon, in a ruling following the bench warrant which the court issued last week for the arrest of the attorney- general ordered that Mr Obayuwana be remanded in prison custody until the state government was able to provide an affidavit of compliance with an order the court had earlier issued directing the state government to comply with an interlocutory injunction sought and got by Churchgate.

HISTORY OF THE CASE

Bendel Breweries a company established by Edo state government was in a 1992 agreement given to ChurchGate industries to manage under the administration of Chief Odigie Oyegun.

The company was valued then at N212 Million. And in a yet to be explained process fifty one percent of the company shares were transferred to ChurchGate Industries Limited at a value of N12.75 Million.

In 2003, the government of Edo state under the administration of the Lucky Igbinedion took over control of the Management of the Company prompting a litigation instituted by the Management of Churhgate before the Federal High Court in Benin City.

In the same year the Federal High Court granted an order asking the state government to hand over the company to Churchgate. The state government however said it was dissatisfied with as it amounts to a grant of the claim in the substantive suit and has appealed in the Supreme Court.

The Edo state Government however claim that almost eight years after the said order was made that court was yet to fulfil the mandatory personal service of forms 48 and 49, and proceeded to issue a Bench Warrant against the person of the Attorney General of the State and committed him to prison custody until compliance by Edo state Government to the 2003 order.

The state Government however said it is unwilling to sell the company as it represents the patrimony of Edo People and will help create wealth and employment in the State.

The Attorney General has so far spent two days in Prison custody in Benin City.