Interstella Communications, a foreign company, has reportedly threatened to shut down the activities of the Central Bank of Nigeria if the bank refuses to comply with a Supreme Court judgement.
According to BBC Pidgin, the Nigeria’s apex court had ordered the CBN to pay the foreign company $260 million over a breach of the contract agreement the Nigeria Telecommunications Limited (NITEL) had with the company.
It was gathered that the company’s lawyer, Oga Nnadi, said Interstella had dragged the Nigerian government from the lower courts to the apex court which eventually ordered the payment.
Nnadi, however, expressed surprise that the CBN failed to obey the court order by paying the money, two years after.
The lawyer noted that the money the CBN is owing Interstella is now 285 million as a result of the interest accrued over two years.
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Nnadi added that the company had repeatedly written the CBN but the bank never acknowledged nor reply the letters.
NITEL had reportedly given the communication company a contract to build data bank but the Nigerian government, without informing the company, allegedly terminated the contract, making Interstella to seek redress in court.
The CBN is involved in the issue because of its role as the main bank which is in charge of the Nigerian government’s monetary spending.
However, the apex bank’s spokesperson, Isaac Okoronkwo, said the issue is not a “direct liability on CBN”, saying the bank has no hand in the contract.
Recall that the federal government is also having a similar issue with Process and Industrial Developments limited (P&ID), another foreign company, over a failed gas project.
P&ID had secured a judgement by a court in the United Kingdom asking the federal government to pay it $9.6 billion.
However, the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, has expressed optimism that the entire $9.6 billion judgement would be set aside.
The minister stated this in London while reacting to Thursday, September 26 ruling by a UK commercial court staying execution of the $9.6 billion judgment debt and granting leave for Nigeria to appeal the decision in the UK appellate court.
