News Investigators/ The Federal High Court (FHC) in Abuja on Wednesday, fixed July 17 for judgment in the suit filed by a metering company, Ziklagsis Network Ltd against the Federal Government to prevent the recovery of N39.1 billion mass metering contract sum.
Justice James Omotosho fixed the date after counsel for the plaintiff and defence presentation their arguments for and against the suit.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Ziklagsis had sued the Federal Government of Nigeria, the Federal Ministry of Power and the Minister of Power.
The company also joined the Debt Management Office, Providus Bank Ltd, and De-Haryor Global Services Ltd for their alleged interference with the project mass metering project.
Ziklagsis, in the suit, contended that “based on Articles 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, and 18(i),(ii),(iii), 24 and 29(ii) of the Judgement Compromise Agreement it entered with the Federal Ministry of Power on Aug. 28, 2017, the Federal Government had no powers to tamper, confiscate, seize, withhold, divert, convert and appropriate the sum of N39 billion granted it for the supply or provision of electric meters in Nigeria.”
Moving his applications, counsel for Ziklagsis, Wole Olanipekun, SAN, submitted that it was against the provisions of Sections 28 and 169 of the Evidence Act, 2011, for parties that agreed on the compromise judgement delivered by the then Justice Nnamdi Dimgba of the FHC to seek to vary the said judgement.
Olanipekun described De-Haryor as “a meddlesome interloper” and one crying more than the bereaved” in the matter.
Objecting to the originating summons and the better affidavit, Marcus Abu, who appeared for De-Haryor, informed the court that they had an application challenging its jurisdiction to entertain the suit, which ought to have been filed under a writ of summons, due to its contentious nature, especially Reliefs 7, 8 and 9.
Abu informed the court that Ziklagsis had two draw-down letters, one to cover the Yola Disco and the other to provide N12 billion to De-Haryor to execute the metering project.
He said while De-Haryor had provided smart metering to almost all the military barracks listed in its contract and received commendations from the Nigerian Army, Ziklagsis failed to deliver on the project.
He added that the company also failed to comply with the amortisation agreement for the repayment of the N39.1 billion loan.
He told the court that the problem of estimated billing still being suffered by most Nigerian electricity consumers could be traced to the company’s failure to deliver on the project.
He, therefore, asked the court to dismiss the suit with substantial costs against Zikglasis.
Similarly, counsel to the Federal Government of Nigeria and the Federal Ministry of Power, I.J. Iyakwaira, the Debt Management Office, Paul Ogbu, and the Providus Bank Ltd, Kehinde Daramola, all asked the court to dismiss Zikglasis originating suit and uphold their counter affidavit.
It would be recalled that De-Haryor was appointed by the Nigerian Army to carry on with the smart metering project after Zikglasis’ alleged failure to deliver on it.
NAN
