Tuesday, December 15, 2020 / 5:26 PM / Honeywell /Header Image Credit: PM News

Counselto Honeywell Group, Mr Olabode Olanipekun (SAN), Monday 14th December 2020,said that his client would be seeking a Supreme Court intervention and reviewof the Court of Appeal judgement on its protracted case with Ecobank.

TheCourt of Appeal, in a recent judgement had reversed the pronouncement of theFederal High Court, Lagos delivered in May 2019, where the lower court in itsjudgement affirmed that operating companies of Honeywell Group were not in anyway indebted to Ecobank.

In areaction to the decision of the Court of Appeal, Honeywell Group's GeneralCounsel Olasumbo Abolaji has said Honeywell remains convinced that it has acompelling case and it is ready to appeal the judgement of the Court of Appeal.According to her, "Litigants can seek relief up to the Supreme Court.Consequently, the decision of the Court of Appeal is definitely not final onthis matter".

Shereminded our correspondent that in the course of the court action, at least 10decisions had been the subject of appeals both at the Court of Appeal and theSupreme Court stages and that Honeywell largely recorded victories at thosestages based on the strength of its arguments. "We believe in the Nigerian JudicialSystem and we will take our case further to the Supreme Court." she concluded.

Itwill be recalled that Honeywell had in 2015 approached the court to determinewhether or not its three subsidiaries, Anchorage Leisures Ltd, Honeywell FlourMills Plc, and Siloam Global Limited were still indebted to Ecobank afterhaving reached an agreement to pay the sum of N3.5billion as full and finalsettlement of the companies' indebtedness.

Testifyingat the lower court during the trial, Honeywell Group's Chief Finance Officer(CFO), Oluwakemi Owasanoye told the court that by an agreement reached at ameeting held on July 22, 2013, the bank agreed to merge the collectiveindebtedness of Honeywell's three subsidiaries, which amounted to N3.5billionwith the negotiations anchored by Honeywell Group Limited.

Owasanoyeadded that part of the agreement reached with the bank was that N500millionmust be paid immediately, while the balance of N3billion would be paid beforethe exit of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) examiners from the bank, withoutany specific stipulation on number of tranches.  According to hertestimony, Honeywell complied with the terms of the agreement, and thereafterwrote to inform the bank of its compliance and the need for the bank to formallydischarge the company of any further obligation. She stated that the bank inits reply to the letter did not raise any objections. Honeywell, she said, washowever surprised when the bank proceeded to demand for further payments inrespect of the debt which had been fully liquidated for over a year.

Shefurther stated in her testimony that when the dispute arose, the Companyreferred the matter to the Bankers' Committee which resolved the matter infavour of Honeywell.

Inview of Honeywell's decision to appeal the Court of Appeal's judgement, thelegal tussle which began in 2015, will now continue at the Supreme Court.

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