9Mobile Ownership Dispute: Hayatu, Seltrix reject Funtua’s trusteeship claims

Hayatu Hadejia and Seltrix Limited have responded to the lawsuit filed against them by Abubakar Funtua, son of the late business mogul Isa Funtua.

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PREMIUM TIMES gathered that Mr Funtua filed the suit at the Federal High Court in Abuja over the ownership and control of Emerging Markets Telecommunications Limited, which operates under the brand name 9Mobile.

He sued, among other defendants, Nigeria’s former Chief of Army Staff, Theophilus Danjuma, along with his company, LH Telecommunication Limited,

Others sued in the suit are Seltrix Limited (named as the 1st defendant), the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Mr Hadejia, Teleology Nigeria Limited, and Mohammed Edewor, a director at Teleology Nigeria Limited.

The plaintiff urged the court to declare he is the beneficial owner of the N43 million ordinary shares held in trust for him by the 1st Defendant,Seltrix Limited, in the capital of the 3rd Defendant,Teleology Nigeria Limited.

Other prayers sought by the pplaintiff I’d a declaration that the acquisition of the N43,million ordinary shares purportedly transferred or surrendered to the 3rd Defendant (Teleology Nigeria Limited) in breach of the 1st Defendant’s (Seltrix Limited) duty as trustee of the plaintiff and in contravention of Clause 48 of the Memorandum and Articles of Association of the 1st Defendant (Seltrix Limited) is null, void and of no effect.

“That the purported registration of the transfer by way of surrender/gift of N43,000,000 ordinary shares held by 1st Defendant (Seltrix Limited) in the capital of the 3rd Defendant (Teleology Nigeria Limited) is unlawful, null and void,” the plairnff stated.

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The court, however, scheduled the hearing for 19 March.

Abuse of power

In a counter-affidavit sworn to and filed on behalf of Seltrix Limited, Mr Hadejia described the plaintiff’s application as a reckless abuse of the court process.

He urged the court to dismiss the application and award substantial costs against the plaintiff.

Challenging Mr Funtua, he demanded concrete evidence of any trusteeship arrangement involving him or Seltrix Limited concerning the alleged N43 million ordinary shares in the capital of the third defendant, Teleology Nigeria Limited, or any matter related to the suit.

Mr Hadejia stated that the plaintiff’s motion, dated 27 January but filed on 28 January, was a fabrication designed to mislead the court.

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Denial

Mr Hadejia also denied holding in trust the controversial N43 million ordinary shares of Emerging Markets Telecommunication Services (EMTS)—the holder and operator of the 9Mobile telecommunications license—on behalf of Mr Funtua.

Similarly, Teleology Nigeria Limited, Mr Edewor, Emerging Markets Telecommunication Services Limited, LH Telecommunication Limited), and Mr Danjuma filed a joint notice of preliminary objection calling on the court to throw out the suit.

They sought an order dismissing the suit for lack of jurisdiction and another order declaring that the plaintiff’s action constituted an abuse of court process.

Additionally, they requested any other orders the court deemed appropriate.