The Federal High Court in Lagos has fixed September 29 to resume hearing of an alleged N511m debt recovery suit by the Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) against Senator Bamidele Opeyemi.
Justice Saliu Saidu fixed the date after dismissing Opeyemi’s May 7 application for a stay of proceedings.
The lawmaker had sought to hold proceedings in the suit pending the hearing of his appeal challenging an interim forfeiture of his shares to AMCON and freezing of his bank accounts.
He prayed the Court of Appeal in Lagos to strike out the ex parte order granted AMCON by Justice Saidu.
But on April 30, the appellate court declined the senator’s prayer.
Justice Saidu, on Tuesday, May 19, also dismissed Opeyemi’s motion on notice for stay of proceedings, on the ground that the appeal was against speedy hearing of the case.
The judge held: “A Stay of Proceedings is of a very serious nature that a Court of Law does not grant as a matter of course. This is because it delays the trial process of the main matter, at times inordinately.
“Stay of Proceedings is antithetical to the speedy hearing of a case. Before it can be granted, there must be a compelling and inevitable circumstance.
“I have taken a cursory look at the Notice of Appeal against the Interlocutory Ruling of this Court delivered on the 3rd of April, 2019. “The subject matter of the Substantive Suit herein is the recovery of debt owed the Claimant by the Defendant, the Interlocutory Appeal at the Defendant concerns the refusal of the Court to vacate the Interim Order made by the Court freezing the bank accounts of the Defendant and granting possession of some Shares of the defendant to the Claimant.
“This Court will not allow the interruption of this case by the 1st Defendant’s Interlocutory Appeal.
“Consequently, I refuse to Stay Proceedings in this case and the Motion on Notice filed on the 7th of May 2019 is hereby struck out”.