Africa-Press – Gambia. Slok Nigeria Limited, also known as FIB Bank and FIB Group Limited, has filed an appeal in the Court of Appeal challenging a High Court decision.
The disgruntled party, Slok Nigeria Limited (FIB) and FIB Group Limited, challenged the decision delivered by Justice Ebrima Jaiteh on January 14, 2021.
The notice of appeal stipulated the grounds on which the appellants (Slok Nigeria Limited/FIB) and FIB Group based their appeal.
They pointed out that Justice Jaiteh, the trial judge, committed a legal error in reviewing and setting aside a judgment delivered by the Honorable Justice Martin U. Okoi on April 11, 2017.
The appellants claimed that the proper procedures stipulated in Order 41, Rules 1 and 2 of Schedule 2 of the High Court Rules were not followed as no special permission was granted. They asserted that Judge Jaiteh had no jurisdiction to review and set aside the judgment, as expressly prohibited by Order 41, Rule 1 of Schedule 2.
The appellants also maintained that the judge trial court, Justice Jaiteh, erroneously concluded that Justice Martin U. Okoi’s 2017 judgment was unfounded and therefore overturned it.
They further argued that this contradicts the clear and unambiguous provision of Order 23, Rule 14 (4) and (5), which confirms that the judgment was indeed based on merit.
FIB Bank and FIB Group, the appellants, also argued that Justice Jaiteh exceeded his jurisdiction by criticizing certain aspects of his colleague’s judgment, although he has similar jurisdiction with Justice Martin U. Okoi.
The applicants consider that this action constitutes a violation of the rights of the defense. This obviously led to the judgment being annulled. They question Justice Jaiteh’s authority to review and criticize another judge’s decision.
Based on these reasons, the appellants requested the Court of Appeal to set aside the decision of Justice Jaiteh in question. They also asked the Court to dismiss the respondents’ request for review before the lower court, and to award them damages.
It would be recalled that Lilium Grays Limited and Lilium Holdings Limited have entered into an agreement to acquire First International Bank (FIB) from Slok Nigeria Limited.
This agreement, dated November 26, 2015, was implemented through two separate share transfer deeds, which were duly registered with the Office of the Registrar General of the Ministry of Justice.
The two Lilium groups were required to take possession of the bank and pay Slok Nigeria (FIB) the contractual sum of four million dollars ($4,000,000). Initially, the parties respected the terms of their agreement, but tensions arose when payment of the contractual sum became due.
Slok Nigeria reportedly requested payment from the Liliums groups, but they hesitated to fulfill their obligations, citing investments made in the bank.
As a result, Slok Nigeria Limited commenced legal proceedings in the High Court of Gambia, accusing Liliums Groups of breach of contract.
point
For More News And Analysis About Gambia Follow Africa-Press
