Estate developer, Olafisoye, others, sued N1.10bn over alleged contract breach

By Vivian Okejeme

The Nelson Mandela Gardens Estate project subscribers in Abuja, have dragged the developer of the Estate, Otunba Adebiyi Olafisoye and A & G Estate Development Company Limited, before a High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) over alleged breach of contract.

The aggrieved subscribers are asking the court to compel Olafisoye and A & G Estate Development Company Limited to pay them a whopping sum of N1.10billion in damages as a result of the alleged contract breach.

Sued along with Olafisoye and A & G Estate Ltd is the African University of Science and Technology (AUST) described as the original owner of the land, which it sub-leased to the property development firm and on which the estate is built.

In the suit marked: CV/328/2022 filed by Mr Ibrahim Idris SAN, the subscribers, accused Olafisoye and A & G Estate Ltd of breaching the terms and conditions contained in the letters of offer issued to them.

They contended that Olafisoye and A & G Estate have refused to keep their promise to provide necessary facilities in the estate, declined to execute deeds of sublease of the unexpired terms granted A & G Estate Ltd by African University of Science and Technology and had attempted to alter the name of the estate.

Listed as claimants are Mrs. A. N. Ijadunola, Alhaji Yusuf Yahaya, Mr. John Mshelia, Mr. Gabriel Afolabi, Mr. Akeem Atanda, Mr. Festus Ojekhephen and the Registered Trustees of Nelson Mandela Gardens Residents Association, Abuja.

The claimants, in their statement of claim, described Olafisoye, who they claimed owns A & G Insurance Plc, as an individual with “an unimpressive and sordid track records in his business or commercial dealings”.

They claimed to have subscribed to the estate project between 2013 and 2019, and that soon after they “entered into the contractual relationship with the 2nd defendant (A & G Estate Ltd) they realized that they had been sold a dummy by the defendants, as the defendants, in a most bizarre manner, kept frustrating the claimants.”

They claimed to have complied with the terms and conditions contained in their various letters of offer by, amongst others, paying fully for the various allocated houses.

The claimants stated that the 2nd defendant, in alleged connivance with the 1st defendant (Olafisoye), failed to abide by the terms and conditions contained in the said letters of Offer.

They further stated that after receiving from them full payments in respect of the various allocated units of houses, the 2nd defendant unapologetically declined to provide any of the facilities or amenities it promised to provide in the estate

The claimants added that part of the effects of the alleged continuous and unjustified refusal of the 2nd defendant to provide essential social facilities it promised, has exposed their lives, those of their families and their properties to great risk and jeopardy.

They stated that till date, the exact tenor or term of the lease, donated to them by the 2nd defendant has been kept away from them because the 2nd and 3rd defendants have been unwilling to disclose “the accurate tenor in the head lease and by extension, the sub-lease between the 2nd and 3rd defendants.”

They want the court to among others, compel A & G Estate Ltd “to forthwith make available to the claimants, their various and respective duly executed deeds of sub -lease of the unexpired term granted to the 2nd defendant by the 3rd defendant in respect of Nelson Mandela Gardens Estate situate at Industrial Area II, Abuja.”

They are also seeking for an injunction restraining the property owner from changing the name of the estate to Steamwood Garden, and to desist from collecting any form of money from the claimants under the guise that it would be used for development purposes.

They are claiming N1billion in damages and N10m as cost of prosecuting the suit.

The defendants have however denied the claimants claims, insisting that they did nothing wrong.

In their joint statement of defence, Olafisoye and A & G Estate Ltd claimed to have provided a number of facilities but that their plan to do more was hampered by the alleged inability of some of the subscribers to fully pay for their houses.

AUST in its statement of defence stated that it was not privy to the contractual agreement between the claimants and the 2nd defendant. It blamed the subscribers for not exercising due diligence before subscribing to the project.

The 3rd defendant also queried the competence of the suit, arguing among others that it amounted to an abuse of court process and that it was caught by statute of limitation.

Meanwhile, Justice Modupe Osho- Adebiyi has fixed April 26 for hearing into the suit.

Nigerian Breweries commits to local sourcing of raw materials

The Nigerian Breweries Plc has expressed commitment to import substitution by investing in local sourcing of raw materials to support the growth and development of Nigeria’s agriculture sector.

The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Mr Hans Essaadi, gave the assurance on Wednesday in Lagos at the company’s 2023 pre-Annual General Meeting media parley.

Essaadi said that the company would continue to invest in the development, improvement and commercialisation of its agricultural raw materials.

He said that the company’s collaboration with relevent local and international research institutes had been expanded to further assess and improve the performance and adaptability of selected registered local sorghum varieties.

According to him, the collaboration will help in the development of new sorghum varieties with improved quality for the industry and increased yield for farmers.

“To increase the positive impact of local sourcing of its agricultural raw materials, Nigerian Breweries has also continuously expanded its sorghum sourcing areas to new communities,” he said.

Essaadi disclosed that the company had been working with some institutes on trials for sorghum with higher yield varieties in northern Nigeria.

He said that the outcome of the trials was beneficial to farmers, adding that it would be made known soon.

Essaadi also said that the company was working with its packaging partners to ensure local sourcing of raw materials.

On outlook for 2023, he said that the first quarter of 2023 was difficult due to foreign exchange scarcity, cash scarcity, high inflation rate and insecurity, among other challenges.

“We are not the only business that experienced the difficulties.

“We moved from forex scarcity to money scarcity. This is a fragmented market, and what that means is that there are thousands of small outlets that operate with just cash, and it is a known fact Nigeria is an informal economy.

“This has been very tough for us. The good thing is that we are coming out of it but I am very cautious.

“Cash is slowly coming back in the economy and we are seeing our numbers improving.

“We had to take a loan consideration which will go through the process of approval including financing cost, our business is under pressure for profitability,” he said.

He said that in spite of the challenges, the fundamentals of the beer market were positive with a good enabling environment.

Essaadi said that the company would remain committed to longterm value creation for shareholders and all its stakeholders.

The Corporate Affairs Director of Nigerian Breweries, Mrs Sade Morgan, said that the company had invested much in renewal energy across its breweries to reduce carbon emissions.

“We kicked off this investment in 2019 and it is a significant investment on renewal energy sources to be able to power our breweries with solar power, hydro power in key investments.

“In addition, we are replacing our machinery and lines with equipment that can run on less energy.

“They are much more efficient and recapturing energy as well throughout the production process.

“When heat is giving up from various machines, we use it to also power other machines,” she said.

Morgan said that Nigerian Breweries and Crossboundary signed a $10 million renewable energy contract (solar and battery storage hybrid) for its Ibadan and Ama breweries in Oyo and Enugu states, respectively.

She said that 14,600 tonnes of carbon emissions would be saved annually from Kakuri, Kudenda, Ibadan and Ama breweries.

She added that the company and Konexa signed a power purchase agreement to provide 100 per cent renewable electricity to two breweries through hydro power. (NAN)