Ziklagsis sues FG, power ministry over N39.1bn metering funds, claims contract sabotage
A metering company, Ziklagsis Network Ltd, has dragged the federal government, the Federal Ministry of Power, and four others before the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court, over the recovery of N39.1 billion meant for metering.
The firm is specifically seeking the sum of N1.1 billion in damages and the cost of instituting the court action against the defendants which also includes; the Minister of Power, the Debt Management Office, Providus Bank Ltd, and De-Haryor Global Services Ltd for their alleged interference with the metering project, which it was granted the loan to execute and repay in seven years.
Ziklagsis Network Ltd, in the suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/576/2024, is claiming that based on articles 3, 4,5,6,10, and 18(i),(ii),(iii),24 and 29(ii) of the Judgement Compromise Agreement it entered with the Federal Ministry of Power on August 28, 2017, the ministry and the federal government had no powers to tamper, confiscate, seize, withhold, divert, convert and appropriate the sum of N39,171,985,233.95 granted it for the supply or provision of electric meters in Nigeria.
The company, which pointed to the Covid-19 pandemic as the cause of its non-execution of the contract, further submits that there are calculated attempts by the federal government and the Ministry of Power to frustrate and sabotage its efforts in the performance of the terms of the Revalidated Tripartite Agreement as modified by the Addendum No. 2, “which attempts are done in utter bad faith with the ultimate end of truncating and or divesting the plaintiff of the benefit of the project.”
Ziklagsis through its counsel, Chief Wole Olanipekun, SAN further submits that the defendants frustrated efforts to execute the project by refusing to release the funds despite it being awarded the contract and receiving the presidential approval on the compliance on its part.
In their joint response to the suit, the federal government and the Minister of Power argue that they acted in accordance with the agreement
