BEDC MD, Husband dragged to Court over alleged $91.4m debt




By: Idris Umar Momoh


Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC)Plc, Mrs Funke Iyabo Sobodu, the chairman of the company who is also her husband, Victor Gbolade Sobodu, the electricity company and Vigeo Power Limited have been dragged to a Federal High Court, Lagos for alleged $91.4 million debt.

The BEDC owners and others were dragged to the court by Stanbic-IBTC, Fidelity Bank Plc, Keystone Bank Limited, ALM Consulting Limited and Stanbic-IBTC Trustees Limited.

The three banks and two firms  approached the court for an order and injunction towards recovering of the alleged $91.4 million debt from Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) Plc and its chairman Victor Osibodu and the company's managing director, Funke.

In the suit marked: FHC/L/CS/239/2022, the counter-claimants/applicants also listed Vigeo Holdings Limited (In receivership), VHL International Limited, Global Utilities Management Company Limited, Design Innovation Limited and Benin Electricity Distribution (BEDC) Plc as defendants to Counter-Claim/respondents.

The counter-claimants/applicants alleged that the debts were incurred between 2016 and 2021.

The counter-claimants/applicants in their motion on notice are praying the court for an order entering summary judgment against the respondents on the “undisputed principal amount/credit facilities availed by first to third applicants and absence of conceivable and/or sustainable defence to applicants’ Counter-Claim”.

In its original claims and motion on Notice, the counter-claimants/applicants prayed the court for an order entering summary judgment against the respondents on the undisputed principal amount/credit facilities availed by first to third applicants and absence of conceivable and/or sustainable defence to applicants’ Counter-Claim to wit:

They also prayed for $22,300 million (principal sum/restructured credit facility as at March 24, 2016), $55,309,439.13 as of June 5, 2018, N24,785,319 as of June 16 2021 and “judgment in the aggregate/cumulative sum of $77,609,439.13 and N24,785,319 billion, and interest on the above-stated sums at the rate of 12.5 per cent per annum from the date of the judgment till liquidation of the judgment sums.

They further prayed for an interlocutory order granting them leave to and the Receiver/Manager (Mr. Kunle Ogunba (SAN) appointed pursuant to a Deed of Appointment of Receiver/Manager dated the February, 2022 and duly registered at the Corporate Affairs Commission, A {CAC} to take over and preserve the assets of the Respondents Particularly and among others.

The suit is presently before Justice Yellim Bogoro, but no date has been fixed for hearing.

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