Alleged Racism: Court Dismisses Suit Against Seplat CEO, Chairman

Justice Chukwuejekwu Aneke of the Federal High Court in Lagos has struck out a suit filed by some aggrieved shareholders of Seplat Energy Plc against its chief executive officer, Roger Brown and the chairman, Board of Directors, Basil Omiyi over allegation of racism.

The judge threw out the suit after the petitioners’ lawyer, Ayodele Arotiowa, informed the court of his clients’ intention to discontinue the case, in which they accused the respondents of racism, favouring of expatriate workers, discrimination against Nigerians, and breach of good governance.

The applicants/petitioners in the suit are Moses Igbrude, Sarat Kudaisi, Kenneth Nnabike, Ajani Abidoye, and Robert Ibekwe, while Seplat Energy PLC, Roger Brown, and Basil Omiyi were listed as respondents in the suit marked FHC/L/402/2023.

The petitioners had asked the court for a mandatory injunction restraining the second respondent (Brown) from parading himself as the CEO of Seplat and working for Seplat in any other capacity.

They had also urged the court to restrain Seplat and the company’s board chairman from retaining Brown as the CEO of Seplat or his services for Seplat in any capacity.

But at the resumed hearing of the substantive suit yesterday, counsel to the petitioners, Ayodele Arotiowa, informed the court that his clients had filed a notice of discontinuance as they were no longer interested in pursuing the matter.

Earlier, the lawyer to Seplat Energy Plc, Uzoma Azikiwe (SAN,) told the court that his client had filed an appeal challenging the court’s jurisdiction to entertain the suit and urged the court to suspend all proceedings pending determination of the request.

While counsel to Seplat’s CEO, Kayode Adesina, informed the court that the notice of withdrawal filed by the petitioners was served on him in court after their appeal challenging the court’s jurisdiction had been entered at the Court of Appeal, Lagos Division.

He submitted that the petitioners filed their notice of discountenance on April 18, 2023, but decided to serve the respondents in court.

While not opposing the notice of discontinuance, the lawyer urged the court to award the sum of N10 million as a cost against the petitioners for the delay in serving notice of discontinuance, which counsel to the petitioners blamed on the court’s bailiff.

In his ruling, Justice Aneke struck out the suit and ordered the petitioners to pay N1 million to the second and third respondents.