Judge absence stalls Oduah’s $16.4m debt suit against bank, adjourned Nov. 8
The absence of trial judge, Justice Ayokunle Faji of the Federal High Court on Thursday, in Lagos has caused the adjournment for further hearing till November 8, 2017 in an alleged debt recovery suit filed against a former Minister of Aviation, Senator Stella Oduah, by Sterling Bank Plc.
The bank alleged that Oduah and four companies linked to her owed it $16,412,819.06 and N100,493,225.59.
Court documents accessed by Business Hilights showed that the companies involved included Sea Petroleum and Gas Company Limited; Sea Shipping Agency Limited, Rotary Engineering Services Limited, and Tour Afrique Company Limited.
Sterling Bank had on February 22 obtained an interim order freezing the accounts of the companies in 21 commercial banks in Nigeria pending the outcome of the case.
Justice Abdulaziz Anka, who made the freezing order, barred Oduah and the directors of the four companies from making any withdrawal from their bank accounts pending the determination of the suit.
The bank, in an affidavit deposed to by one of its managers, Mr. Segun Akinsanya, averred that the debt stemmed from a loan of $10,069,620.25 granted Sea Petroleum and Gas Company on October 8, 2012, to finance one unit 5,000MT tanker vessel.
Adesanya further averred that the company also obtained other loans of $449,600.00, $642,954.00 and $350,000.
He said the bank resorted to filing the suit following the alleged refusal of the oil company to liquidate the loans, which, he said, stood at $16,412,819.06 and N100,493,225.59 as of November 2016.
