Niger Court Issues Arrest Warrant On Power Firms’ MDs

Justice Abdullahi Mika’ilu of the Niger State High Court 2 has issued a warrant of arrest on the managing directors (MDs) of two hydroelectric power stations for undermining the hearing notice it served on them.

The judge gave the order in the criminal matter involving the MDs of the power stations of North South Power Company Limited and Mainstream Energy Solution Limited over multi-billion naira debts owed to the Niger State Internal Revenue Service (NSIRS) from 2017 to 2022.

The criminal suit by NSIRS against the two firms and their managing directors was to prosecute them for refusing to pay the taxes due to the state despite being served the statutory notices to appear in court regarding the charges.

However, the defendants refused to appear on this adjourned date before the court. Counsel to the plaintiff, Aliyu Lemu (SAN), therefore, argued that the defendants’ non-appearance was a deliberate attempt as they had been served with several notices.

In his ruling, Justice Abdullahi Mikailu said it was clear that the defendants were fully aware that the case was coming up as slated. He, therefore, invoked section 252 of the Niger State Criminal Justice Administration on them.

Justice Mika’ilu then issued bench warrants for the arrest of the managing directors to ensure that they appeared in court on the next adjourned date.

The counsel to the plaintiff explained that the case is the criminal aspect of the multi-billion Naira case against the North-South Power Company Limited and the Mainstream Energy Solutions Limited, saying that the civil case is ongoing at the Federal High Court 2, Minna.

Similarly, a warrant was issued against a commercial bank for refusing to appear in court after several invitations. The court adjourned the matter to June 10 for a hearing.