Dangote Plant : Court Gives Dantata & Sawoe 30 Days To Settle $1.2m Debt Case

The Federal High Court in Abuja has granted Dantata & Sawoe Construction Company Limited a thirty-day extension to settle issues concerning the alleged $1,257,592.83 debt owed to Zutari Consulting Nigeria Ltd following subcontract work on the Dangote Fertilizer Plant project in Lekki, Lagos, Nigeria.

The trial Judge Justice Inyang Ekwo adjourned the case for a report on the settlement on Tuesday, months after he approved the placement of a winding-up petition advertisement against Dantata in a motion on notice filed by Zutari Consulting Nigeria Ltd

When the matter commenced, counsel for the petitioner, Felicia Okam, stated that on the last adjourned date, the Court made an order for advertisement, which has been complied with, but Dantata’s lawyer, Uchenna Njoku, noted that following the Court’s ruling, they had filed a notice of appeal and an application for a stay of proceedings.

The trial judge reminded Njoku that there was a direction for the parties to settle the matter, which wasnt complied with.

Justice Ekwo however gave parties thirty days to to conclude settlement, after the lawyer stated that there are ongoing discussions regarding settlement.

According to the court documents, the petitioner is involved in engineering designs, consulting, and supervision of engineering works, while Dantata & Sawoe provides general construction services, among other activities.

The petitioner’s lawyer, Chris Ekemezie, submitted that his client was engaged by the respondent in 2015 for design work related to the respondent’s subcontract at the Dangote Fertilizer Plant project in Lekki, Lagos, Nigeria.

He contended that after the petitioner completed its work, Dantata & Sawoe allegedly became indebted to it in the sum of $1,257,592.83 among others.

He argued that due to the respondent’s failure to pay the petitioner the outstanding amount, a dispute arose between the parties, and when they could not resolve it themselves, the petitioner submitted the dispute to the International Chamber of Commerce for arbitration.

The petitioner stated that arbitration was held in London, United Kingdom, and a final arbitral award was made by the arbitration tribunal on April 7, 2021, finding the respondent liable to the applicant for the stated debts.

The petitioner then filed a motion seeking the court’s permission to place its wind-up petition against Dantata in national dailies in the interest of justice, pending the final decision of the main suit.

In a notice of preliminary objection filed on May 9, 2023, Dantata’s legal team urged the court to strike out the petition arguing that the conditions under which the petitioner seeks to wind up their client are completely lacking in merit, while denying the indebtedness claimed by the petitioner.

They confirmed that the company engaged the services of the petitioner for a subcontract at the Dangote Fertilizer Plant for the sum of N162,000,000.00 and that payment had been made.

The lawyer however explained that the subcontract was varied, as agreed by the petitioner, the respondent, and Saipem (Dangote).

Ruling on their applications in July 2024, Justice Inyang Ekwo stated that Dantata’s objection was made against the substantive matter and not against the motion on notice to advertise the petition.

He noted that contrary to Dantata & Sawoe’s submission, the law allows a winding-up petition to proceed despite the pendency of other processes, as all that is required for the petition to succeed is that the respondent owes the petitioner a debt of N200,000 and above.