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The dispute between Bukola George and some directors of the HealthPlus Pharmacy again comes under focus today as the Lagos Federal High Court presided by Justice Oluremi Oguntoyinbo will give a ruling on the matter that has dragged on and impacting the pharmaceutical retailer since last year.
The ruling will determine whether the court proceeds with contempt proceedings against the Defendants or listen to arguments on whether the matter should be referred to arbitration as agreed by the parties in their transaction agreement documents.
At the last sitting of the Court in November 2020, the team of lawyers to George led by Bolaji Ayorinde informed the court that the defendants had disobeyed the Status Quo Order of the court which precluded parties from overarching the decision of the court.
The Status Quo Order was issued when officers of the Nigeria Police Force attempted to arrest George for failure to respond to several invitations by the law enforcement agency.
Goerge and her lawyers have claimed that the Status Quo Order prevents the company from doing anything including access to its bank accounts.
On their part, lawyers from the Chambers of Olaniwun Ajayi, who are counsel to HealthPlus and the foreign investors, insisted that the Police invitation had no bearing with the reliefs sought in the matter pending before the court, which is to determine the rights of George as a minority shareholder of the company.
They submitted that the Status Quo Order did not stop the company from being operated by its directors, and urged the court to disregard the alleged contempt and proceed to hear the application for stay of proceedings, pending arbitration on the matter as agreed by both parties.
HealthPlus Limited has been embroiled in crisis since the termination of George’s appointment as CEO of the company.
George and her husband had sold their majority shares in HealthPlus to foreign equity investors represented by Alta-Semper and she took a management contract that could be terminated by the majority of the directors.
Although the matter was pending in court, George has filed petitions with the Nigeria Police Force, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, the House of Representatives and Pharmacist Council of Nigeria (PCN), seeking their intervention in the matter.
The House of Representatives last week struck out the matter and ruled that it will not intervene on a matter that was pending before a court. The Chairman House committee of Public Petitions, Hon. Jery Alagbaoso advised George to consider withdrawing the case from the court if she wants the matter to be resolved by the legislature.
BADEJO ADEMUYIWA has 23 years experience as a Finance Writer, specialising in Insurance and Investigative Reporting.
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