Court
Alleged N50m debt: Claimant urges court to reject “Baba Ijebu’s” Coy’ request
Mr Raji-Rasaq Adeshina has urged FCT High Court to reject the application by GreenArps Project Limited, owned by Mr Kessington Adebutu, popularly known as “Baba Ijebu.”
GreenArps Project Limited had sought a stay of proceedings in an alleged N50 million debt suit filed before Justice Abdulraman Usman.
Adeshina, who is the claimant in the suit, had told Justice Usman on behalf of a consortium that helped GreenArps won the bid for the concession of the National Stadium, Lagos, to discountenance the firm’s request.
His application was predicated on the grounds that GreenArps, besides attempting to truncate the trial, had not file its defence in the suit.
Justice Usman had, on May 9 fixed May 16, for hearing the motion for stay in the proceedings of the trial court, pending an appeal at the Court of Appeal, Abuja.
The motion for stay filed on May 5, sought to upturn and set aside the April 16 ruling of the trial court, which assumed jurisdiction in the matter and also ordered transfer of the case from the undefended list to the general cause list, on Fast Track Procedure.
At the May 16 proceedings, GreenArps’ lawyer, Babatunde Ige, pointed out that efforts of the trial court would be in futility in the event their appeal succeeded.
He had faulted the trial court’s ruling on jurisdiction, arguing that the claimant’s lawyer did not sign the writ of the certified true copy, served on the defendant, and as such rendered the document incompetent and lacking in merit.
“Where the writ is unsigned, there is no valid writ to activate the jurisdictional of this court,” he had argued.
He therefore urged the trial court to adjourned till the appellate court concluded on his appeal against the April 16 ruling of the court.
But the claimant, through his lawyer, Austine Otah, urged Justice Usman to dismiss the appeal for being incompetent on the grounds that there was nothing attached to show that an appeal had been entered at the Court of Appeal.
“Apart from the fact that the submissions are incompetent, what they are requesting for cannot be given.
“The court could see from what they attached to the document that they have not filed an appeal that is ready before the Court of Appeal for adjudication.
“It should not constitute a bar to the proceedings and the business of this court especially when it is on fast track,” the claimant submitted.
Besides, he urged that the appeal should not be allowed to constitute a bar to the hearing at the trial court because, “the matter is one of liquidated money demand and for them to show whether or not they have a defence.
“They did not seek leave first here at the lower court before filing an application before the Court of Appeal.”
He therefore urged the court to dismiss the application for being an abuse of court process.
After taking submissions for and against the motion for stay, Justice Usman fixed May 19 for ruling.
The claimant, Raji-Rasaq Adeshina, had sued GreenArps Project Ltd on behalf of himself and other technical partners that helped the defendant to bid and won the concession of the National Stadium, Lagos, in 2023.
In the suit marked: CV/57/2025 and filed on Jan. 10, 2025, the claimant is seeking an order of court directing the defendant to pay its remaining balance of N50 million as well as the interest that has accrued since 2023.
The company was alleged to have defaulted in the full payment of negotiated fees and further services rendered by the claimant, which directly led to the company’s successful concession bid for the National Stadium in Lagos in November 2023.
However, rather than file its defence, GreenArps filed a notice of preliminary objection, challenging the jurisdiction of the court to entertain the matter on the grounds that the failure of the claimant to sign the writ robbed the court of necessary jurisdiction.
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