In a landmark decision, the Supreme Court has upheld the contempt conviction of Alex Okoh, former Director General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE).

The judgment, delivered on Friday, solidified Okoh’s one-month imprisonment, highlighting compelling evidence of BPE and Okoh flouting a prior court order.

This order explicitly prohibited the sale of the Aluminium Smelter Company of Nigeria (ALSCON) Ltd to any entity other than the BFI Group Corporation, the rightful winner of the 2004 bid.

Tijjani Abubakar, delivering the lead verdict, expressed strong criticism for BPE and Okoh’s blatant disregard of the court’s directive.

In scrutinizing the appeal arguments, the judge dismissed BPE’s claim that Alex Okoh was not personally served court papers (Forms 48 and 49) pertaining to the contempt proceedings.

Forms 48 and 49 are crucial in contempt cases. Judge Abubakar asserted that serving the documents on the BPE Secretary was a valid service to Mr Okoh.

He criticized BPE’s actions of re-offering ALSCON for sale post the Supreme Court ruling as a blatant contemptuous act, emphasizing a flagrant disregard for the court’s authority.

According to Mr Abubakar, BPE’s invitation for fresh bids after the court’s order “leaves no one in doubt that the appellants indeed flouted the order of the court as handed down in SC/12/2008, particularly the third leg of the order, which perpetually restrained the first appellant (BPE), servants, agents, privies, management or howsoever called from negotiating the sale, selling, transferring or otherwise handing over ALSCON to any other person or persons, in violation of the contract between the BPE and the BFI Group.”

The appellant’s lawyer, Chris Uche, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) had argued that his client did not violate the court order.

However, Mr. Abubakar dismissed Uche’s assertion, emphasizing that court orders are meant to be adhered to.

He stated that it is not within the appellant’s right to claim compliance when the court records clearly show their utter disregard for the order.

Abubakar condemned the appellants’ actions as a blatant display of disrespect, deeming it scandalous and shameful.

“It is disgraceful that an agency of government decided to hold the economy of the country hostage. Agencies of government must respect the rules. Nobody in this country is above the law.

“Both the government and the governed are subject to the rule of law.

“The appellants are not at liberty to choose which of the orders of this court to obey and which one to ignore.

“I must say the conduct of the appellants in this case offends the majesty of the law and undermines the dignity of the court.

By acting in defiance of the order of perpetual injunction handed down by this court, the stage was obviously set for the second appellant’s (Okoh’s) committal to prison,” the judge said.

Mr. Abubakar declared the appeal as lacking merit before dismissing it. Consequently, he upheld the Court of Appeal’s January 2022 decision affirming Mr. Okoh’s contempt conviction.

The court also maintained the imposition of a N10 million cost against the appellants in favor of the respondent, BFI Group.

Mr. Abubakar ordered that the N10 million cost be personally paid by Mr. Okoh, further specifying that this payment is in addition to his imprisonment for contempt.

Recall that in 2004, the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) initiated the privatization of ALSCON through an expression of interest advertisement.

Following the bidding process, BFI Group Corporation emerged as the preferred bidder. BPE communicated this decision to BFI Group through a letter dated June 17, 2006, requesting a 10% payment of the bid price within 15 days.

However, BFI Group contested the 15-day payment deadline, arguing that the terms of the May 2004 memorandum of understanding between the parties stipulated that the preferred bidder should pay 10% of the accepted bid price within 15 days from the execution date of the Share Purchase Agreement (SPA).

Following BFI Group’s failure to meet the 15-day payment deadline, the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) terminated the contract and subsequently re-offered ALSCON for sale. In response, determined to challenge BPE’s contract termination, BFI Group filed a lawsuit.

The Supreme Court, in a 2012 judgment, ruled in favor of BFI Group, affirming the existence of a valid contract of sale between BPE and BFI Group regarding ALSCON.

The court issued a restraining order, prohibiting BPE and its agents from further offering ALSCON for sale to any other individual or entity outside of BFI Group.

In pursuit of executing the Supreme Court judgment, BFI Group initiated a judgment enforcement suit before the Federal High Court in Abuja.

On September 30, 2014, the Federal High Court issued an enforcement order, which faced objection and appeal from BPE.

The appellate court modified the enforcement order but maintained the directive to enforce the Supreme Court judgment. It instructed BPE to furnish the mutually agreed Share Purchase Agreement (SPA) for execution.

However, disagreements arose between BPE and BFI Group regarding the execution of the SPA, with BPE objecting to certain documents annexed to the agreement.

Following the disagreement, BFI Group initiated contempt proceedings against BPE and Mr. Okoh at the Federal High Court in Abuja.

In December 2019, the court found both guilty of contempt and sentenced Mr. Okoh to one month of imprisonment until he purged himself of the contempt.

Challenging this decision, Mr. Okoh and BPE appealed to the Supreme Court.

The verdict delivered on Friday affirmed the conviction and upheld the sentence imposed by the Federal High Court.