Court to rule on N39bn mass metering project July 17
A Federal High Court in Abuja has fixed July 17 for judgement in the suit on the federal government’s mass metering project, for which it invested N39.1 billion for the military barracks segment. Justice James Omotosho, on Wednesday, adjourned the suit for judgement after listening to parties in the matter. The company awarded the initial […]
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A Federal High Court in Abuja has fixed July 17 for judgement in the suit on the federal government’s mass metering project, for which it invested N39.1 billion for the military barracks segment.
Justice James Omotosho, on Wednesday, adjourned the suit for judgement after listening to parties in the matter.
The company awarded the initial project, Ziklagsis Network Ltd, had filed the suit seeking to prevent the Federal Government of Nigeria, the Federal Ministry of Power, and four others from recovering the N39.1 billion mass metering contract sum.
Ziklagsis had also joined the Debt Management Office, Providus Bank Ltd, and De-Haryor Global Services Ltd as parties in the mass metering project.
Earlier, counsel for Ziklagsis, Wole Olanipekun (SAN), submitted that it was against the provisions of sections 28 and 169 of the Evidence Act, 2011, for parties that agreed on the compromise judgement delivered by Justice Nnamdi Dimgba of the Federal High Court to seek to vary the said judgement.
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Olanipekun described De-Haryor, who was appointed by the army to carry on with the smart metering project, as “a meddlesome interloper” and one “crying more than the bereaved” in the matter.
Objecting to the originating summons and the better affidavit, counsel to De-Haryor, Marcus Abu Esq, informed the court that they have an application challenging its jurisdiction to entertain the suit, stating that it ought to have been filed under a writ of summons, due to its contentious nature, especially reliefs 7, 8 and 9.
Abu informed the court that Ziklagsis had two draw-down letters, one to cover the Yola DisCo and the other to provide N12 billion to De-Haryor to execute the metering project.
Similarly, counsel to the Federal Government of Nigeria and the Federal Ministry of Power, I. J. Iyakwaira, the Debt Management Office, Paul Ogbu, and Providus Bank Ltd, Kehinde Daramola, all asked the court to dismiss Zikglasis’ originating suit and uphold their counter-affidavit.
In the suit with file number FHC/ABJ/CS/576/2024, Ziklagsis contends that based on articles 3, 4,5,6,10, and 18(i),(ii),(iii),24 and 29(ii) of the Judgement Compromise Agreement it entered with the Federal Ministry of Power on August 28, 2017, the ministry and the federal government had no powers to tamper with, confiscate, seize, withhold, divert, convert and appropriate the sum of N39,171,985,233.95 granted it for the supply or provision of electric meters in Nigeria.