General Hydrocarbons Limited (GHL), alongside its directors and shareholders, has initiated contempt proceedings against senior officials of the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) for allegedly violating a subsisting order of the Federal High Court, Lagos, which restrained the corporation from appointing a receiver over GHL.
Justice A. Lewis-Allagoa had, on September 23, issued an order prohibiting AMCON from taking any steps toward appointing a receiver for the company—an order reaffirmed on October 22. Despite this, Justice Akintayo Aluko of the same court granted an ex parte request by AMCON on October 24, authorising the appointment of a receiver, prompting the contempt action.
GHL accused AMCON of misleading the court by failing to disclose the existence of Justice Lewis-Allagoa’s earlier injunction, which explicitly restrained AMCON from “appointing or continuing with” any receivership process involving GHL.
The company also alleged that AMCON misrepresented facts about an Eligible Bank Asset (EBA) purportedly issued to GHL. According to GHL, AMCON only made a partial payment to First Bank of Nigeria (FBN) toward the acquisition of the EBA and never completed the transaction, with FBN reportedly offering to refund the deposit in filings before the court.
Rather than pursuing FBN, GHL claims, AMCON has “for curious and inexplicable reasons” attempted to pursue enforcement actions against GHL, despite correspondence showing the fault lay with FBN—documents that GHL says are already before the court.
A Form 48 Notice of Consequences of Disobedience to Court Orders has now been issued to the following AMCON officials:
- Dr Bala Bello, Chairman
- Mr Gbenga Alade, Managing Director
- Mr Adeshola Lamidi, Executive Director
- Mr Lucky Adaghe, Executive Director
- Dr Aminu Mukhtar Dan’amu, Executive Director
Others served include:
- Mr Oluseyi Akinwunmi, purported Receiver appointed by AMCON
- Mr Bidemi Ademola-Bello, SAN, Counsel to AMCON, who was present when Justice Lewis-Allagoa issued the order
- Mr Ade Adedeji, SAN, Counsel to AMCON and its Managing Director
Justice Lewis-Allagoa has ordered that the contempt processes be served via substituted means, including official email, WhatsApp, delivery to official addresses, and publication in two national newspapers and other nationwide media outlets.
