7th September, 2020
By Akin Kuponiyi
A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos, Southwest Nigeria on Monday refused to hear an application filed to lift an order of injunction restraining South African retail outlet, Shoprite Checkers (PTY) Limited, from transferring its assets.
The presiding vacation Judge, Justice Nicholas Oweibo, said that the matter was not urgent enough to be heard during the vacation period.
Shoprite is seeking to overturn a July 14, 2020 order of injunction made by Justice Mohammed Liman of the same court jurisdiction in favour of a Nigerian Company, A.I.C. Limited.
A.I.C. Limited, in 2018 secured a $10m judgment against Shoprite in a breach of contract suit, it obtained the order of injunction base on information that Shoprite was about to pull out of Nigeria.
Justice Liman restrained Shoprite “from transferring, assigning, charging, disposing of its trademark, franchise and intellectual property in a manner that will alter, dissipate or remove these non-cash assets and other assets, including but not limited to trade receivables, trade payables, payment for purchase of merchandise, from within the jurisdiction of this honourable court.”
Justice Liman also mandated the second respondent, Retail Supermarket Nigeria Limited, “to disclose its audited financial statements for the years ending 2018 and 2019 to enable the judgment creditor/applicant to determine the judgment debtor’s/respondent’s funds in its custody in order to preserve same in satisfaction of the judgment of the Court of Appeal in Appeal No: CA/L/288/2018.”
The $10 million judgment was in 2018 entered in favour of A.I.C. Limited against Shoprite by Justice Lateef Lawal-Akapo of the Lagos State High Court in Ikeja.
Dissatisfied, the company appealed the judgment, but the appellate court affirmed the judgment of the lower court.
Thereafter Shoprite lodged appeal at the Supreme Court.