43m shares 9mobile legal tussle: Court fixes Sept 24 for ruling 

The Federal High Court in Abuja has fixed September 24 to rule on several applications in the case of businessman Abubakar Ismaila Isa, who claims that his 43 million shares were allegedly transferred to Emerging Markets Telecommunication Services Limited, operating under the trade name 9mobile, without his consent.

The matter, as argued before Justice Mohammed Umar on Wednesday, was filed by Isa’s legal team led by Femi Atteh, SAN, in suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/1971/2024.

The plaintiff seeks an order declaring him the “beneficial owner of the 43,000,000 (forty-three million) ordinary shares held in trust for him by the 1st Defendant (Seltrix Limited) in the capital of the 3rd Defendant (Teleology Nigeria Limited).” 

According to a report,  Isa argued that he  “entrusted the 1st and 2nd Defendants (Seltrix Limited and Hayatu Hassan Hadeija) with 43,000,000 shares held by Seltrix in the capital of the 3rd Defendant (Teleology Nigeria Limited), who, at all times material to this suit, is the majority and controlling shareholder of the 5th Defendant with eighty-nine point nine percent (89.9%) shares.” 

The report stated that Teleology Nigeria Limited entered into a Term Facility Loan Agreement with the African Export-Import Bank (AFREXIM) and secured a loan for the acquisition of controlling shares in 9mobile.

The plaintiff alleged that Teleology secured the loan by “encumbering the shares it acquired in the capital of the 5th Defendant (9mobile).”