Skip to main content

Again, Supreme Court sacks UC RUSAL from ALSCON


The Supreme Court has again re-validated its earlier order contained in its July 6, 2012 judgement which annulled the handing over of the multi-million dollar Aluminium Smelter Company of Nigeria (ALSCON), Ikot Abasi in Akwa Ibom State, to United Company RUSAL, an aluminium manufacturing and processing company based in Russia.

National Mirror gathered that in its latest unanimous ruling by a five-man panel headed by Justice Olabode Rhodes-Vivour, given on July 11 this year, the apex court dismissed the application by UC RUSAL against BFI Group Corporation (BFIG) and Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) for lack of merit.

A company, Dayson Holdings Limited, had filed the application seeking a review of the July 6, 2012 judgment of the Supreme Court annulling the controversial handing over of ALSCON to UC RUSAL by Bureau of Public Enterprises in 2006.

It would be recalled that following the privatization process, which culminated in the final bid held on June 14, 2004, BFIG had emerged as the preferred bidder, after US RUSAL was disqualified by the National Council on Privatization (NCP) for violating the bid guidelines.

Despite the Russian company’s disqualification by the supervising Council for the privatization programme, the Bureau of Public Enterprises proceeded to disqualify BFIG, allegedly for failing to meet the deadline for the payment of $41 million, being 10 per cent of the $410 million bid offered for the plant.

The Bureau subsequently reinvited UC RUSAL, earlier disqualified by the NCP, and opened negotiations on how to hand over ALSCON to it.

In addition to the earlier ruling by the apex court, the House of Representatives Committee on Privatization and Commercialization, at the end of a public hearing on the non-implementation of the Supreme Court ruling, urged BPE to comply with the rule of law and take steps to take control of ALSCON from UC RUSAL.

Prior to the latest ruling of the Supreme Court, the House of Representatives Committee on Privatization and Commercialization on May 2016 again reaffirmed its previous resolution urging BPE to respect and enforce the Supreme Court ruling.

Consequently, on May 2016 the Bureau convened a meeting with the Chairman/Chief Executive of BFIG, Reuben Jaja, to discuss the implementation of the ruling.

During the meeting, both parties agreed that BFIG would pay $41 million, being 10 per cent of the offer price of $410 million for ALSCON with 15 working days after the execution of the May 20, 2004 mutually agreed share purchase agreement (SPA).

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Omagbemi frees Angels, Queens for Fed Cup final

Super Falcons’ Head Coach, Florence Omagbemi, has elected to release players of Rivers Angels and Bayelsa Queens in the Senior Women National Team camp for Sunday’s potentially explosive women Federation Cup final between both teams in Lagos. Omagbemi The member of FIFA Technical Study said the ladies would be allowed to leave the team’s camp in Abuja to travel to Lagos for the big clash, which starts at 1pm at the Teslim Balogun Stadium on Sunday. That decision has freed Angels’ half dozen of goalkeeper Ibubeleye Whyte, defenders Osinachi Ohale, Ugo Njoku and Gladys Akpa and midfielders Chioma Wogu and Glory Iroka to be part of the glamour event, to be attended by the Governors of Lagos, Anambra, Nasarawa, Bayelsa and Rivers States. Bayelsa Queens’ duo of goalkeeper Alaba Jonathan and playmaker Osarenoma Igbinovia will also be on duty. The involvement of the Super Falcons’ stars will certainly boost the quality of the final match, and ensure the two teams do not miss their Falco...
Post a Comment
Read more

Supreme Court doesn’t need 21 justices – CJN

The acting Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen, has said appointing more judges or increasing the number of courtrooms are not the solutions to the problem of delayed justice dispensation in the country. The acting CJN said the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court would  remain congested so long as the number of appeals proceeding there from the high courts was not regulated. Justice Onnoghen also argued that it was erroneous to believe that delay at the Supreme Court was as a result of not having up to 21 Justices prescribed by the constitution. He noted hat even the United States of America, with a higher population, had only nine Supreme Court Justices. He argued that the current 17 Justices on the Supreme Court bench were just enough for the country, if the number of appeals proceeding to the appellate and apex courts was regulated. Justice Onnoghen made this argument on Monday in Lagos while inaugurating the newly refurbished building of the Lagos Division o...
Post a Comment
Read more

Trump ex-aide Paul Manafort 'offered to help Putin'

US President Donald Trump's one-time campaign chairman secretly worked for a Russian billionaire to assist President Vladimir Putin, the Associated Press (AP) news agency reports. Paul Manafort is said to have proposed a strategy to nullify anti-Russian opposition across former Soviet republics a decade ago. AP says documents and interviews support its claims about Mr Manafort. Mr Manafort has insisted that he never worked for Russian interests. He worked as Mr Trump's unpaid campaign chairman from March until August last year, including the period during which the flamboyant New York billionaire clinched the Republican nomination. He resigned after AP revealed that he had co-ordinated a secret Washington lobbying operation on behalf of Ukraine's ruling pro-Russian political party until 2014. Newly obtained business records link Mr Manafort more directly to Mr Putin's interests in the region, AP says. Donald Trump unpaid Campaign Chairman It ...
Post a Comment
Read more