The recent movement of Senator Patrick Ifeanyi Ubah from the Young Progressive Party (YPP) to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has nothing to do with the resolution of the lingering dispute between him and the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) and the dismissal of the criminal charge against him and his company, Capital Oil & Gas.
Justice Nicholas Oweibo struck out the charge following an oral application by counsel for AMCON, Oluwaseun Onabowu, seeking the withdrawal of the suit.
AMCON’s counsel had informed the court that following a consent judgements reached in a sister case which was before the Federal Capital Territory court in Abuja, parties had agreed that the case against the Senator be withdrawn in the Lagos. The counsel urged the court to strike out the charge filed against the defendants.
Mrs. Esom, Counsel for Ubah, had confirmed to the court that agreements had been reached with the complainant. Consequently, the court struck out the suit.
Following insinuations that the matter was struck out because of Ubah’s movement to the APC, his lawyer, on Thursday clarified that his movement to the APC from the YPP, had nothing to do with the suit before the court.
The counsel noted that the dispute that culminated in several court cases and the criminal charge filed against Capital Oil and Gas and Senator Ubah arose from commercial transactions with various banks in whose stead AMCON acted upon acquisition of the facilities.
She stated that in 2013, the parties had entered into a consent judgment “which unfortunately became subject of various litigations by AMCON and Capital Oil and Gas at various times. Some of these cases were won by AMCON and some were won by Capital Oil and Gas.”
According to the counsel, during the pendency of the cases and appeals, several efforts were made toward the resolution of the dispute resulting in an amicable settlement reached in January 2022 which was approved by the Central Bank of Nigeria and Federal Ministry of Finance during the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, noting that Senator Ubah was a member of the YPP.
She furher stated that in furtherance of the settlement, a consent judgment was subsequently entered into at the Federal High Court Abuja wherein parties agreed that all cases and appeals filed by Senator Patrick Ifeanyi Ubah and Capital Oil and Gas against AMCON would be withdrawn and all Cases and Appeals by AMCON against Capital Oil & Gas and Senator Patrick Ifeanyi Ubah be also withdrawn.
According to the counsel, the Federal High Court Lagos hearing the charge had from when the Charge was filed granted several adjournments upon confirmation that settlement talks were ongoing.
She further stated: “On the last sitting of the Court, due to a mix-up, the Court was not informed that the settlement had long been concluded and thereafter the Court vacation commenced which inhibited formal withdrawal of the Charge.
BELOW IS FULL STATEMENT: