By Tunde Opeseitan /Lagos
Shareholders of the defunct Oceanic Bank on Tuesday urged a Federal High Court in Lagos to compel the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) to return the N191 billion worth of assets forfeited by Cecelia Ibru to Oceanic Bank.
Ibru, convicted former Managing Director of Oceanic Bank, had forfeited the assets as part of the plea bargain arrangement between her and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which was sanctioned by the former Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice Dan Abutu.
The fresh suit, which has chairman, Association of Oceanic Bank Shareholders, Boniface Okezie, and Adewale Basirat Abolanle, as plaintiffs, also has AMCON, CBN, EFCC, Federal Attorney General and Ibru as first to fifth defendants respectively.
The plaintiffs, who are representing all the aggrieved shareholders of Oceanic Bank in the suit, are praying for an order declaring that Ibru was liable to make good to them, monies and assets improperly "paid out or converted or otherwise improperly acquired from Oceanic Bank before its merger with Ecobank, arising from Ibru's self-acknowledged acts of breach of her fiduciary duty to Oceanic Bank and them as shareholders."
The plaintiffs, who prayed for an order vesting them with powers to recover from Ibru and other defendants by way of tracing, the assets forfeited by Ibru, further sought an order of court transferring the control of the said assets to them through their solicitor, Indemnity Partners.
Besides, the plaintiffs are further praying for an order setting aside the part of the plea bargain and settlement agreement between Ibru and the EFCC in the proceedings before Justice Abutu where parties agreed that the disputed assets should be forfeited to the Federal Government.
The shareholders, through their lawyer, Chuks Nwachuku, listed four grounds for the originating summons, and argued that the said plea bargain deal constituted an admission by the defendants that the assets forfeited by Ibru represented proceeds of her breach of the fiduciary duty which she owed to the former Oceanic Bank and its shareholders.
In the second ground, the shareholders averred that the settlement part of the agreement where parties agreed that the assets should be forfeited to the Federal Government amounted to breach of the fundamental right of Oceanic Bank and its shareholders, and also a breach of the right to freedom of property guaranteed under Section 44 of the Constitution.
