The Federal High Court in Abuja has struck out a suit filed by businessman Abubakar Ismaila Isa Funtua who alleged that his 43 million shares were transferred without his consent to Emerging Markets Telecommunication Services Limited (EMTS), operators of 9mobile.
Delivering judgment in the lawsuit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1971/2024, Justice Mohammed Umar held that Isa lacked the locus standi or legal capacity to institute the action against the nine defendants.
The defendants in the case were Seltrix Limited, Hayatu Hassan Hadejia, Teleology Nigeria Limited, Mohammed Edewor, EMTS, Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), LH Telecommunication Limited, and General Theophilus Yakubu Danjuma.
Isa, through his counsel, Mr. Femi Atteh, SAN, had commenced the suit on December 27, 2024, seeking 11 reliefs, including a declaration that he was the beneficial owner of the disputed shares allegedly held in trust for him by Seltrix Ltd in Teleology Nigeria Ltd.
However, the 3rd, 4th, 5th, 8th, and 9th defendants, represented respectively by Mr. Michael Aondakaa, SAN, C. I. Okpoko, SAN, R. O. Atabo, SAN, A.T. Kohol, Esq., and C. C. Ogbonna, Esq., filed a joint preliminary objection dated February 5, 2025, urging the court to dismiss the case for want of jurisdiction and as an abuse of court process.
After reviewing arguments from all parties, Justice Umar upheld the objection, ruling that Isa failed to show any legal interest in the subject matter.
Justice Umar held: “I carefully perused the said exhibit to see if the allegation of the Plaintiff is substantiated; I did not find any. Nowhere was there any figure of the 43,000,000 million ordinary shares held in trust for the Plaintiff by the 1st Defendant mentioned.
“In fact, the 2nd Defendant denied any business dealings with the Plaintiff and these facts were not controverted by the Plaintiff. The said exhibits cannot by any imagination constitute a trust to confer locus standi on the Plaintiff. The said exhibits were tendered by the Plaintiff, but nowhere did it link the Plaintiff to his claims to enable him to institute an action on the facts alleged therein.”
Furthermore, the court held that the plaintiff failed to establish the facts he asserted and to link his claims to the exhibits he himself tendered by virtue of the averments in the suit.
“I find that the Objectors have adequately countered the said exhibits in their reply on points of law in tandem with the law that failure to respond to a counter-affidavit is deemed to be an admission,” Justice Umar held.
“I resolve the issue of locus standi against the Plaintiff, and the law is that where a Plaintiff has been adjudged to lack locus standi, it does not matter what other issues have been raised for determination in the suit.”
The court noted that since the Plaintiff lacked the capacity to institute the action, there was no need to make a pronouncement on grounds two to nine of the 3rd, 4th, 5th, 8th and 9th Defendants’ Notice of Preliminary Objection which included claims that the suit was statute-barred, incompetent, and that Isa was a “meddlesome interloper” seeking to frustrate the operations of EMTS.
“I therefore make an Order striking out this action for lack of locus standi of the Plaintiff. This is the Order of this Court,” the court held.
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