The Federal High Court in Lagos has ruled that Bharti Airtel’s purchase of Airtel Nigeria shares from Ecobank in 2018 was contemptuous and amounted to a flagrant disobedience of a court order.
The said shares have been the main issue in the protracted dispute between Dr. Oba Otudeko and O & O Networks Limited (a Special Purpose Vehicle owned by Ecobank Transnational Incorporated) and were indeed subject to an order of the court in 2015 that prohibited parties from transferring or selling the shares.
However, in deliberate disregard of the order, Bharti Airtel purchased the shares from O & O and being previously aware of the dispute and court orders on these shares, extracted an indemnity from O & O against exposure to any liability. In the ruling, the Federal High Court also ordered O & O to pay the sum of N22.5Billion, being the proceeds of the wrongful sale of the shares into the Court’s account.
It would be recalled that Dr. Oba Otudeko and Broad Communications Ltd, had…
