There is a cold war between BFIG corporation and Rusal company of Russia laying claims to the ownership of the now moribund multi-billion dollar aluminium smelting plant in Ikot Abasi local government area of Akwa Ibom state.
Investigation reveals that while BFIG Corporation laid claims to the ownership of the Aluminum firm based on the January 24 judgement by the Supreme Court which authorized them to take over the plant, Rusal of Russia who was the original investor kicked against the judgement and continued in their business at the plant.
It would be recalled that the apex court had, since 2012, ruled that the BFIG group is the preferred bidder for the smelter but RUSAL said that it had secured judgement from the London Court of Arbitration that ALSCON was properly privatized.
Last week in an attempt to enforce the judgement of the Supreme Court, BFIG group led by its President, Chief Reuben Jaja and representatives of the Bureau of Public Enterprise (BPE) visited the ALSCON plant but were denied entry by RUSAL.
It was gathered that when the BFIG delegation arrived, the ALSCON gate was locked and mounted by a combined team of police and army officers to stop BFIG group from gaining access to the facility.
It took several hours of persuasion for officials of ALSCON to allow just one representative of BFIG to go in and hold talks with the Russians while the rest of the delegation waited outside in the scorching sun for more than four hours.
Fielding questions from journalists after the long wait at the gate of ALSCON plant, Lead counsel to the BFIG group, Chief Patrick Ikwueti (SAN), said they were in ALSCON, after a meeting with the Attorney general of the Federation Lateef Fagbemi, to begin the enforcement of the Supreme Court judgement.
“We are here because following the last Supreme Court judgement over the ALSCON matter, the one that was given on the 26th of January, 2024, we had a meeting with the Attorney General of the Federation and the Bureau of Public Enterprise ( BPE) and we agreed on several things we have to do to fully enforce the Supreme Court judgement given on ALSCON since 2012 and part of what we agreed was that we should have a visit to ALSCON facility here in Ikot Abasi.”
Continuing, Ikwueto said though the BFIG representatives had limited access to the premises, the company is satisfied that ALSCON actually exists in terms of a physical building, adding that he does not know the actual state of the plant.
But ALSCON Managing Director, Dmitriy Zaviyalov had claimed during a media interaction with journalists at the plant that ALSCON and the Nigerian Government had agreed that the last court of justice would be the London Court of Arbitration which has given judgement in favour of Rusal group.
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“You should understand that in our agreement with the Nigerian Government, it was agreed that the last court of arbitration would be the London Court of Arbitration,” Zaviyalov had said.
Reacting to Zaviyalov’s claim, Ikwueto said that the Supreme Court in its last judgement had faulted the said agreement claiming that it was contempt of the court.
“While we were in court in 2004 and 2006, the Russians purportedly signed an agreement with BPE. That agreement was signed while the matter was still pending before the court.
“But the Supreme Court of Nigeria in 2012 was specific that there was an order of injunction perpetually restraining the BPE from negotiating, selling or transferring ALSCON to anybody.
“So, the arbitration that you are talking about was based on a Shared Purchase Agreement (SPA) they claimed to have signed in 2006 while the matter was pending in court.
“The Supreme Court in its last judgement on 26th January 2024, underscored that the agreement was, in itself a contempt of the court” Ikwueto said.
Meanwhile, youths of Ikot-Abasi- the host community of ALSCON last weekend staged a protest to register their grievances against the Russians for locking the gate against BFIG group.
The protesters displayed placards with various inscriptions expressing their happiness over the Supreme Court judgement which declared BFIG group winner and preferred bidder against the Russian firm.
