In a ruling delivered on Monday, February 24,
2014, Justice Ibrahim Buba had ruled that Jay-
Jay Okocha and his wife had run the company
in a manner that was oppressive to the majority
shareholders, restrained the couple from
making changes to the board of directors, and
directed that the firm’s accounts be audited,
among other orders. But the plaintiffs in the
case state that the Okochas had simply ignored
the court judgment even though they never
appealed it.
Instead, they have reportedly tried
to dribble the petitioners up and down.
Apart from Austin and Nkechi Okocha, the other
defendants in this case are Jay-Jay Okocha
Group West Africa, a limited liability company
jointly formed by the former Super Eagles star
and six other shareholders, namely Friday
Nwankwo-Kuja, Ijeoma Kuja, James Nwankwo
Kuja, Chinedu Nwankwo-Kuja, Daniel
Chukwudi, Mary Chioma Nwankwo-Kuja, and a
company, African Shelter Sports Consult
Limited, also co-petitioners in the legal battle.
In the original affidavit sworn to by Friday
Nwankwo-Kuja, a director and shareholder of
Jay-Jay Okocha Group West Africa Limited, the
petitioners claimed to be shareholders of the
company which was incorporated to engage in
sports promotions and to arrange, organize,
finance and present sporting events. The
affidavit, filed by their lawyer, Caleb Rotimi
Oyekola, accused Mr. Okocha and his wife, who
are chairman and managing director of the
company respectively, of conducting the affairs
of the company in an illegal and oppressive
manner.
Mr. Nwankwo-Kuja alleged that, at the
formative stage of the company located at 46
Saka Tinubu Street, Victoria Island, Lagos, he
expended N63 million in the business and until
2010 diligently performed his duties as the
executive director of company.
According to him, the Okochas illegally eased
him out of the company when he started
clamoring for an audit of the firm’s account in
line with Nigeria’s corporate laws, to ascertain if
the company was making profit, and to enable
the company to file its annual returns to the
Corporate Affairs Commission. He testified that
the manner of his removal as a director in the
company violated the provisions of the
Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA).
His affidavit accused the respondents of
conspiring, without a valid resolution of the
board of directors, to remove his properties out
of his office, even though he and other
petitioners were the company’s majority
shareholders.
Thereafter, Mr. Okocha and his wife resisted all
efforts to convene a general meeting of the
company or to have the firm’s accounts audited.
In their original lawsuit, the petitioners alleged
that the company has never held a board
meeting or general meeting since it
commenced operations. The petitioners also
told the court that the Okochas were on the
verge of selling off Club Ten, one of the
subsidiaries of the company.
The lawsuit also accused the Okochas of
fraudulently forging a resolution of the board in
order to change the directors of the company
and to unlawfully, forcibly take took over the
affairs of the company.
The original lawsuit urged the court to restrain
Mr. Okocha and his wife from vandalizing or
selling off the company and to order that the
firm’s accounts be audited.
In his ruling, Justice Buba stated that the reliefs
sought by the petitioners had merit, adding that
the petitioners were the majority shareholders
of the company.
Justice Buba then ruled that the defendants’
change of the company’s directors without the
resolution of the Board of Directors was illegal,
null and void and no effect whatsoever. In
addition, he ordered the immediate auditing of
the company's accounts, restrained the
Okochas from managing and running the affairs
of the company solely as if it were their
personal property.
The judge also ordered that Mr. Friday
Nwankwo-Kuja be made signatory to the
account of the company, adding that the
manner in which Mr. Okocha and his wife were
running the affairs of the company was
oppressive to the petitioners. Justice Buba also
awarded costs of N20, 000 against the
respondents.
A lawyer to the plaintiffs told SaharaReporters
that the Okochas neither filed any defense to
the lawsuit nor have they obeyed it. “My clients
are going to set the machinery in place to
enforce the judgment that Mr. and Mrs. Okocha
have continued to disobey and treat with
mockery,” he said.
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