PORT HARCOURT- A Federal High Court in Port Harcourt , has awarded N10, 000 cost against Alhaji Amin Ibrahim, owner of Standard Security Company for undue delay of court processes.
Justice G.K. Olutu awarded the cost in a suit Ibrahim filed against the Global Gas and Refining Company following an application by the defence counsel, Mr. Martin Achonye.
Olutu said it was wrong for some lawyers to adopt time wasting measures in litigations.
According to him, for the plaintiff to exhaust time granted him for service by the court without reaching out to the defendants, is bad.
He overruled the argument of Mr. O. Panda, Counsel to the plaintiff, that N10, 000 sought by Achonye was too much, saying the amount was moderate and should be paid to the defendant.
When the matter came up for mention, Panda had applied for an extension of time to enable him complete the necessary service on the defendants.
The counsel told the court that due to his client’s application for interlocutory injunction, he was not ready for the adoption of addresses as scheduled by the court.
Reacting to the defence counsel’s application for cost, he said the N10, 000 sought was outrageous.
Achonye had applied for a cost of N10,000 in favour of his client, saying the plaintiff was only using delay tactics to waste the time of the court.
Reports say that Ibrahim had since March applied for an interlocutory injunction for a stay of action in the matter between him and some directors of Global Gas Company.
The court had fixed January 29, 2009 as the date for continuation of hearing in the matter while November 15, 2008 was fixed for another suit between Global Gas and Ibrahim.
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