NEWSWATCH: JUDGE BLOWS HOT OVER UNSOLICITED GIFTS

There was drama on Tuesday at
the continued hearing of a suit filed by some aggrieved shareholders of
Newswatch Communications Limited against a business mogul, Jimoh Ibrahim, and
his companies.

This is as one of the founders
of the company, Ray Ekpu, and a shareholder Nuhu Wada Aruda, testified before
the court.

As the case was about to
begin, Justice Ibrahim Buba of the Federal High Court in Lagos stunned the
audiende when he openly spoke out against some unknown individuals, who he said
sent him unsolicited gifts.

Justice Buba raised an alarm
over the gifts, saying parties must be warned to desist from doing anything to
undermine his integrity.

The shareholders, Nuhu Wada
Aruda and Professor Jibril Aminu, had filed the suit to challenge the method
through which Ibrahim acquired the purported majority shares of Newswatch,
and his style of leading the company so far.

After the case was called,
Justice Buba, held his spectacle with his left hand and gazed at Ibrahim’s
lawyer, Bolaji Ayorinde (SAN), and asked him if he (Ayorinde) wants him (the
judge) to carry on with the case till the end.

Without waiting for Ayorinde’s
response, Justice Buba continued: “Do you want me to conclude this case?

“I asked the question because
after the last sitting, I found an unsolicited gift on my table, and when I
opened it, I found two complimentary copies of Newswatch
Daily of
February 10 and 11, 2013.

“My secretary told me she can
identify the person that brought it

“The issue here is: Sending
copies of the subject matter of a suit before me to me is not ordinary.

“It is not ordinary because a
judge is also on trial over the case he is handling.

“If any of the party is not
comfortable with me, such person should let me know, and I will return the case
file to the Chief Judge for re-assignment to another judge.

“I must, however, call on
parties to refrain from doing things that will undermine the integrity of the
court,” Justice Buba stressed in a short ruling.

Responding, counsel to the
plaintiff, Adekunle Adesanya (SAN), expressed shock at the development.

He however stessed that he had
the greatest confidence in the ability of the judge to do justice in the
matter, irrespective of any kind of intimidation o harassment.

Ayorinde also shared the same
point, but urged the court to give him time to investigate the circumstances
leading to the development.

Later, Aruda, who had earlier
commenced his evidence-in-chief, was directed to enter the witness box, where
he was further cross-examined by Ayorinde.

Aruda under cross-examination,
stressed that •••Newswatch••• was not distressed before Ibrahim took over, but
that they only invited him (Ibrahim) to invest in the company owing to the need
for business expansion.

Four •••Newswatch••• Magazines
of January 15, 2007; August 3, 2009; April 19, 2010 and November 19, 2011 were
admitted as exhibits by the court after they were tendered by Ayorinde through
Aruda.

Besides, one of the founding
directors of •••Newswatch•••, Ray Ekpu opened his testimony before the court
where he stated that at present, he has 4.3 million shares in Newswatch, adding
that his shares at inception of the company was 75, 000.

Ekpu recalled that himself,
the late Dele Giwa, Soji Akinrinade, Dan Agbese and Yakubu Mohammed were the
founding fathers of •••Newswatch•••.

He said: “Although, our
shareholding has changed since then because there have been delusions.

“For instance, in 1992, the
four of us decided to shelve up to five per cent of our shareholdings.

“We sold the shares and gave
the company as an interest free loan, although the loan has since been repaid,”
Ekpu clarified.

He also claimed knowledge of
the existence of some subsidiaries of •••Newswatch••• which are Newswatch Books
Limited and Newswatch Properties Limited.

The case continues on
Wednesday with Ekpu’s testimonies.