The Federal High Court in Abuja has struck out an objection by the Federal Ministry of Transportation regarding a lawsuit filed by Donnington Nigeria Ltd.
Donnington is seeking to nullify a contract award for implementing the Advanced International Cargo Tracking Note (ICTN) Scheme in Nigeria.
This ruling clears the way for the lawsuit to proceed.
The ICTN Scheme aims to track cargo movements and improve revenue collection for the government.
However, the contract award process has been contentious, with Donnington claiming irregularities. The company has also threatened to take the matter to international arbitration if necessary.
Friday’s ruling is a major setback for Nigeria in the case, in which it is accused of wrongful award of the CTN multi-billion contract.
The court on July 4 adopted the objections of some of the defendants in the case and adjourned to November 8 for ruling.
The defendants that asked the court to throw out the case are the Federal Ministry of Transport, Antaser Belgium, Velocity Logistics Ltd and Sham Crystal Investments Ltd, who were listed as 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th defendants respectively in the suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/2351/2022, against the Federal Government of Nigeria and the Attorney-General of the Federation.
Antaser, Velocity, Winslow, Equal and Saham crystal are among the companies said to have been unduly favoured in the award process after the Nigerian Government appointed five other companies to implement the Cargo Tracking Scheme, instead of Donnington Nigeria Ltd, which had reportedly complied with all the requirements, including gaining presidential approval on May 4, 2021, for the re-introduction of the scheme.
Donnington said it had also secured other relevant approvals from the various ministries and agencies.
In their preliminary objection, the defendants challenged the competence of the plaintiff’s action on the ground that the suit is “an abuse of court process” and therefore the court lacks jurisdiction to entertain the matter.
The plaintiff however opposed all the notices of preliminary objection by the defendants and adopted all its processes.
Ruling, the presiding judge, Binta Nyako dismissed the preliminary objection of the defendants for lacking in merit.
According to Justice Nyako, a single action can give rise to multiple claims.
The judge subsequently adjourned the matter to February 6, 2025 for hearing.
The CTN case is turning into a major liability for the Nigerian government, as it’s now a global issue with Donnington’s foreign partners taking the matter to international arbitration.
This could further tarnish Nigeria’s reputation, which is already struggling, and put the country’s foreign assets at risk of seizure if the outcome doesn’t favor the government.
Nigeria recently suffered an international embarrassment due to a legal issue that allowed a Chinese company to seize Nigerian properties abroad, including presidential jets and real estate in Liverpool, UK.
This debacle stems from a $70 million arbitration award granted to Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment Co. Ltd against the Nigerian government.
The Donnington situation began when the company filed a suit against the Federal Government of Nigeria, citing irregularities in the awarding of the Cargo Tracking Note (CTN) contract to five companies: Antaser Belgium, Velocity Logistics and Marine Ltd, Saham Crystal Investment Ltd, Winslow Logistics Ltd, and Equal Logistics Ltd.
These companies were listed as defendants in the suit.
The plaintiff, which initially got a presidential approval for the said contract, alleges that the contract was later taken from them in violation of Nigerian laws and wrongfully awarded to the 6th to 10th Defendants, without due process.
It also alleged that the owners of the companies that got the award were top government officials, who abused their offices to corner the juicy contract, using the companies as proxies.
Oyetola was summoned to appear before the committee but was represented by Babatunde Sule, a director in the ministry. Sule defended the delay, claiming that the process approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) was faulty.
He stated that the process was “flawed ab initio” and could have been handled better.
However, lawmakers were unimpressed with Sule’s responses, questioning his capacity to represent the minister adequately.
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