For shareholders and, indeed stakeholders, who heaved a sigh of relief at the news of a court-ordered meeting called by the warring directors of EKOCorp Plc, owners of EKO Hospital, a foremost health facility in the country and the only one of its type whose shares are publicly traded on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), it has now proved to be an action that came too soon, going by the latest events.

The court-ordered Extra-Ordinary General Meeting (EGM), should have held on Thursday, July 5, 2018.

Part of the activities lined up as special business at the shareholders’ meeting, the first since the boardroom whispers snowballed into side-walk gossips and ultimately, market square squabbles, included giving effects to a 2010 court ruling.

But that meeting is now postponed sine die the Latin phrase for the English word: INDEFINITELY, according to a filing by the company with the NSE on Monday.

Mrs. Happiness I. Iheukwumere, EKOCorp’s company secretary in her notice to the exchange wrote: “the postponement of the court ordered EGM was necessitated by an appeal filed by Geoff Ohen (a party to the suit: Suit no. FHC/L/CP/25/12 Dr. Sunday Folorunso Kuku & Ors Vs. Geoff Ohen Limited & Ors) against the judgement of the Federal High Court and filed a stay of execution of the same judgement.

“The said pending appeal and the pending application for stay of the execution precludes all the parties to the suit from further acting on the extant judgement pending the hearing and the determination of the application for stay of execution filed by the said Geoff Ohen Limited,” she added.

Investdata News had in its story of June 23, 2018, reported that shareholders will at the July 5, meeting, approved the conversion Eko Corp’s debts to its director into equity stakes in their favour, while also approving the allotment of 110m ordinary shares of N4.00 each to Geoff Ohen Ltd, 10 years after a Special Placement scheme was approved for the purpose at a Completion Board Meeting held on June 17, 2008.

This was the order by the Federal High Court, in a judgment delivered by Olatoregun J. in Suit No. FHC/L/CP/25/12 on May 7, 2018.

As part of the special resolution also, 75% of the debt owed to Dr. Sunday Kuku, Dr. Augustine Amechi Obiora, Dr. Alexandra Eneli (the three founding directors/owners), as well as Chief F.G.A Cole, would be converted to equity at N1 per share.

Specifically, this means that while N43.824m would be converted to equity in the name of Dr. Kuku, if approved at the EGM; N42.688m would be so converted for Dr. Obiora; N27.735m in favour of Dr. Eneli (deceased), now represented on the board by Senator Michael Ajegbo; and N43.32m, for Chief Cole. (Continue READING).