Newswatch: Respondents begin defence Nov 20

[Mirror]

The management of Newswatch Communications Ltd, NCL, the publisher of Newswatch magazine, will on November 20 open its defence in the case instituted against it at a Federal High Court in Lagos by two minority shareholders of the publishing company, Mr. Nuhu Wada Aruda and Prof. Jibril Aminu.

The date was fixed yesterday by Justice Ibrahim Buba, after the conclusion of the last witness called by the petitioners, Mr. Elvis Onuora.

By the permission of the judge, the respondents now have two consecutive days, October 21 and 22, to commence the defence of the suit.

The two petitioners had filed the petition, accusing the new management team of Newswatch led by Dr. Jimoh Ibrahim, OFR, of assuming control of the company "illegally", although they admitted that majority of the company's shares had been legally transferred to Ibrahim via a Share Purchase Agreement, SPA, signed by all the parties.

The petitioners are, therefore, praying the court to quash the powers of the current management elected by the majority of the shareholders.

In their petition, with no FHC/L/CP/1367/2012, brought pursuant to sections 310 (a), (b) and (c) and 311 (1), (2) (a) and (b) of the Companies and Allied Matters Act, the applicants are also praying the court to, among others, set aside the SPA on the basis of which Ibrahim assumed majority shareholding in the company.

Joined as co-respondents in the matter are Newswatch Communications Ltd and Global Media Mirror Ltd.

There were a number of interlocutory decisions which had gone against the petitioners in this case.

On February 4, Buba had dismissed the interlocutory application of Aruda and Aminu seeking to stop the operations of Newswatch pending the determination of their substantive suit.

The application was dismissed on the grounds that it was lacking in merit.

A similar case which the Newswatch itself instituted against the four former Executive Directors of Newswatch was resolved against the said former directors by another judge of the same Federal High Court, Lagos, Justice Okon Abang.

In the judgement delivered in that other case on July 1, Abang had said "the former executive directors of NCL, Ray Ekpu, Dan Agbese, Yakubu Mohammed and Soji Akinrinade, are no longer directors of the company".

The judge predicated his grounds on the fact that Ekpu and the said others had resigned their positions effectively from May 5, 2011.

He said: "The defendants, having 6.3 per cent of the shareholding, cannot act on behalf of the 49 per cent shareholders of the company. They are even not entitled in law to declare a trade dispute."