The Court of Appeal, Abuja Division, has ordered all parties in the committal proceeding filed against the Bureau of Public Enterprise (BPE) and its Director General, Mr. Alex Okoh, in a case between BFIGoup and the BPE, to file their arguments and other necessary processes before February 5, 2020, which is the next adjourned date.
An Abuja Federal High Court judge, Justice A I Chikere had on December 17, 2019, ordered that the BPE boss be remanded in prison for 30 days for contempt of Court.
The committal order followed an allegation that the BPE failed to fully execute the orders of the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal in the suits filed by BFIG in respect of the bid for Aluminum Smelter Company of Nigeria (ALSCON), Ikot Abasi, Akwa Ibom State.
The Supreme Court had ruled that BFIG, a Nigerian-American consortium was the valid winner of the bid for ALSCON, which was conducted in 2004 by the BPE.
The BPE had appealed the decision of the lower court and also filed an application for a stay of its execution.
In granting the application for stay of execution of the contempt order, the Court of Appeal, ordered the parties to maintain status quo and adjourned the suit till January 20, 2020.
At the January 20 proceedings, the court ordered the parties to file their addresses and adjourned the matter till February 5.
