Business
Interim Court Orders
Interim Court Orders.
About this update from Seplat Energy Plc
[{"type":"text","content":"\n\n \n \n \n \n \nSeplat Energy Plc\n(\"Seplat Energy\" or the \"Company\")\n \nSeplat takes immediate steps to counter Interim Court Orders against its Officers\n \n \nLagos and London - 11 May 2023: Seplat Energy is aware of certain media publications that the Federal High Court, per Hon. Justice I. E. Ekwo, sitting in Abuja in suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/626/2023 - Juliet Gbaka & 2 others v. Seplat Energy Plc & 13 others granted ex parte Interim Orders against Seplat Energy and some of its Officers. The Interim Orders, which are yet to be served on the Company or any of the affected Officers, primarily restrain the Board Chairman, the named Independent Non-Executive Directors, the Chief Operating Officer and the Company Secretary from operating or functioning as officers of Seplat Energy in any capacity, or otherwise conducting the affairs of the Company.\n \nThe Company, as a law-abiding entity, has defended against the Interim Orders by immediately filing an Appeal and a Motion for Stay of Execution of the Orders. Seplat Energy has been advised by its legal team that the Interim Orders, which are yet to be served on the Company or its officers, cannot be enforced until the Court of Appeal has heard and determined the Appeal and application for Stay of Execution.\n \n \nThis petition is a third in the series of duplicative petitions filed by purported minority shareholders between March and April 2023, as part of orchestrated attempts to damage the Company in response to its unrelenting efforts to improve corporate governance by eliminating related party transactions and implementing other corporate governance initiatives. The Company previously announced that:\n· The Federal High Court in Lagos, per Hon. Justice Aneke, in Moses Igbrude & 4 ors V. Seplat Energy & 2 ors, has vacated the ex parte Interim Orders that required the Company's CEO to step aside.\n· The Federal High Court in Abuja, per Hon. Justice Ekwo, in Federal Republic of Nigeria V. Seplat Energy & 8 ors, formally dismissed the Immigration Charge against the Company and some of its Officers, and fully discharged all named Officers. This discharge followed the Notice of Withdrawal/Discharge filed by the Director Legal of the Nig...