Business
Electricity Firm Loses Motion For Appeal
An Abuja High Court sitting in Lugbe last Wednesday struck out a motion for appeal and stay of execution brought against its earlier ruling by the Niger Delta Power Holding Company Ltd. (NDPHC).
Justice Angela Otaluka said the NDPHC did not avail the court of the requisite valid evidence of the appeal which they purported to have filed.
She held that filing a motion for stay of proceedings and notice of intention to appeal against court’s earlier ruling without proof of actual appeal filed was an abuse of court process.
“For filing the motion for stay of proceedings and notice of appeal without evidence of the appeal filed at the appellate court, this application is hereby struck out.
“The High Court’s jurisdiction is deactivated, while that of the appeal court is activated only where such documents proving evidence of actual appeal filed are availed the court,” Otaluka said.
The defendant’s counsel, Mr Abdulwahhab Muhammed, had prayed for an order of the court to grant leave to the defendant to appeal the ruling of the court delivered on October 8, 2012.
He also sought an order of the court to stay further proceedings in the suit, pending hearing and determination of his client’s appeal against the said ruling.
It could be recalled that Mrs Florence Kalu of Lugbe Extension, Abuja, had sued the NDPHC for inadequate compensation on her property.
Kalu had prayed the court to compel the company to pay her N3.6 million being compensation for her building at Lugbe Extension which was taken over by NDPHC.
NDPHC counsel, Abdulwahab Mohammed, argued that the company had adequately paid off the plaintiff with N2.2 million in line with the provisions of the Land Use Act.
He also brought a motion of preliminary objection before the court, saying that the court lacked jurisdiction to entertain the matter.
The court struck out the motion.
Mohammed also said that his client was a Federal Government parastatal and not a private company and so could pay compensation only in line with the Land Use Act.
The plaintiff’s counsel, Mrs Ifeyinwa Okonkwo, had argued that the compensation that was given to her client ought to be done on the basis of the open market value of the property.
She said that the NDPHC had short-changed her client by paying her compensation on the basis of the Land Use Act.
“NDPHC is not owned by government but is rather a limited liability company and so should pay compensation in accordance with the open market value of the property.”
Business
NAFDAC Decries Circulation Of Prohibited Food Items In markets …….Orders Vendors’ Immediate Cessation Of Dealings With Products
Importers, market traders, and supermarket operators have therefore, been directed to immediately cease all dealings in these items and to notify their supply chain partners to halt transactions involving prohibited products.
The agency emphasized that failure to comply will attract strict enforcement measures, including seizure and destruction of goods, suspension or revocation of operational licences, and prosecution under relevant laws.
The statement said “The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has raised an alarm over the growing incidence of smuggling, sale, and distribution of regulated food products such as pasta, noodles, sugar, and tomato paste currently found in markets across the country.
“These products are expressly listed on the Federal Government’s Customs Prohibition List and are not permitted for importation”.
NAFDAC also called on other government bodies, including the Nigeria Customs Service, Nigeria Immigration Service(NIS) Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Nigeria Shippers Council, and the Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service (NAQS), to collaborate in enforcing the ban on these unsafe products.
