The Federal Excessive Court docket in Abuja on Wednesday appointed a liquidator for Dantata & Sawoe Development Firm Restricted over its failure to pay $1.4 million in accordance with the phrases of a settlement settlement concerning an alleged $1,257,592.83 debt owed to Zutari Consulting Nigeria Ltd, following subcontract work on the Dangote Fertilizer Plant challenge in Lekki, Lagos.
Justice Mohammed Umar granted Zutari Consulting’s request for the appointment of a liquidator, noting that Dantata & Sawoe had been given ample time by the courtroom to settle the debt however the firm repeatedly introduced excuses.
The event comes months after the courtroom accepted the publication of a winding-up petition commercial towards Dantata & Sawoe in two nationwide each day newspapers.
Zutari Consulting is concerned in engineering design, consulting, and supervision of engineering works, whereas Dantata & Sawoe is engaged generally development providers.
Authorized Disputes
Final 12 months, BusinessTimes reported that the courtroom had granted the events a 30-day extension for settlement and adjourned the matter a number of occasions to listen to Zutari Consulting’s movement in search of the appointment of a provisional liquidator for Dantata & Sawoe over the alleged debt.
Zutari Consulting’s lawyer, Chris Ekemezie, said that arbitration over the matter was carried out in London, United Kingdom, and {that a} ultimate arbitral award issued on April 7, 2021, held Dantata & Sawoe answerable for the debt.
He added that the petitioner was engaged by the respondent in 2015 to execute some design parts of the respondent’s subcontract works on the Dangote Fertilizer Plant challenge in Lekki.
They contended that after the petitioner accomplished the job, Dantata & Sawoe grew to become indebted to it within the sum of “$1,257,592.83, ZAR 2,136,623.39, and £4,364.38.”
He argued that the respondent’s failure to pay the excellent quantity led to a dispute, which was referred to the Worldwide Chamber of Commerce for arbitration after each events had been unable to resolve it themselves. The tribunal dominated within the petitioner’s favour.
Nonetheless, in a discover of preliminary objection filed on Could 9, 2023, Dantata & Sawoe’s authorized group urged the courtroom to strike out the petition for lack of jurisdiction, informing the courtroom that an attraction had been filed amid ongoing settlement negotiations.
BusinessTimes studies that the case has witnessed a number of adjournments.
What Transpired in Court docket
At Wednesday’s resumed proceedings, the petitioner advised the courtroom that the respondent had failed to totally settle its debt, noting that its shopper’s entitlements had been far above the 75% fee proposed by Dantata & Sawoe.
- Dantata’s authorized group maintained that they provided to pay 75% of the debt, however the consulting agency rejected the supply.
- After listening to each events, the decide held that the case had been adjourned 3 times to permit the respondent to settle the debt, but they continued returning with excuses.
- The courtroom famous Dantata & Sawoe’s unwillingness to pay and subsequently granted the petitioner’s request to nominate Joseph Abiolu, FCA, as liquidator to wind up the corporate consistent with Sections 571(d), 572, and 573(1)(b) of the Firms and Allied Issues Act (CAMA) 2020, which define circumstances and procedures for court-ordered winding up.
- The case was adjourned to February 18, 2026, for the liquidator’s report.
What You Ought to Know
BusinessTimes gathered that an attraction on the matter is pending on the Court docket of Appeal.
BusinessTimes additionally studies that the Federal Excessive Court docket has jurisdiction over the transactions involving each events.
The courtroom will study the authorized points in figuring out the ultimate end result of the case.
