A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos on Monay fixed December 4 for ruling on whether to vacate the ex-parte order it made freezing the assets of Honeywell Flour Mills Plc over its indebtedness to Ecobank Nigeria Plc.

The court presided over by Justice M. Yunusa, had following an ex-parte application by the bank’s counsel, Mr. Kunle Ogunba, SAN, restrained chairman Honeywell, Dr. Oba Otukedo, his agents or privies from tampering with, alienating, transferring or otherwise dissipating, appropriating the company’s fixed and movable assets, property, machinery, tools of trade or other assets, however described and called, particularly those at 6B,Mekunwen Road, Off Oyinkan Abayomi Drive, Ikoyi, Lagos and at NPA Premises, 2nd Gate Bye-Pass, Tin-Can Island Port, Apapa and other trecable/identifiable assets in the name and/or possession of the company’s pending the hearing and determination of ‎the application for the appointment of a provisional liquidator in furtherance of the petition as herein presented.

The court also restrained the respondents, its chairman; Dr. Oba Otudeko, its directors, staff, management, employees, officers, agents, privies or any other person or group of persons whatsoever under the respondent's authority or any other authority howsoever derived or sourced from operating, withdrawing from or otherwise tampering with the respondent's funds under whatsoever name or guise in any Bank or financial institution within Nigeria, pending the hearing and final determination of the application for the appointment of a provisional liquidator in furtherance of the petition herein.

When the case came up yesterday, Honeywell prayed the court to vacate the order granted in favour of the bank, arguing that the order was granted before leave to issue the originating processes was granted.

Honeywell through its counsel, Chief Wole Olanipekun(SAN), prayed the court to vacate the court, contending that the subject matter in the present suit was before Justice Tsoho of the same court and it was only when Justice Tsoho refused to grant the order, that the applicant filed the same processes before the present court, where it obtained the order, without disclosing that the same suit was pending before another judge.

According to the company, the ex-parte order conflicts with an earlier order granted in suit FHC/L/CS/1219/2015 on August 10, 2015 by the same court, more so, Paragraph 6 of the undertaking in Exhibit HFM/E 10 contains an arbitration clause for the determination of the liabilities and obligations of all parties.

The company had averred in its counter-affidavit that “Sometime in 2013, the applicant along with its sister companies, Anchorage Leisures ltd and Siloam Global ltd under the auspices of their parent company, Honeywell Group Ltd commenced discussions with the respondent with a view to a global and complete settlement of their outstanding liabilities towards which parties agreed for a total full and final payment of N3.5 billion the agreed sum.”

He stated that the payment of the sum of N3.5 billion as full and final settlement of the outstanding obligations of the applicant and it's sister companies was agreed at the meeting held on July 22, 2013 both of which were held at the applicant’s office and which had in attendance the Managing Director of the respondent, Mr. Jibril aku and other top management staff of the respondent.

He added that it was the agreement of the parties that upon the full payment of the agreed sum, the respondent would issue letters of discharge from indebtedness to the applicant and it's sister companies; Release all the securities for which the already liquidated indebtedness was collaterised and Update the status of the accounts of the applicant and it's sister companies on the Central Bank of Nigeria's Credit Risk Management System, ‎CBNCRMS, portal from non-performing loan accounts."