Breach of Contract: Court orders Swedish firm to pay N800m to Nigerian firm
An Abuja High Court has awarded a cumulative sum of about N800m against a Swedish firm operating in Nigeria, L.M. Ericsson Nigeria Limited, for breaching a contract agreement it entered with a local logistics company, Aqua Oil Nigeria Ltd, in 2006.
The litigation had lingered for about 17 years.
In her judgement, Justice Chizoba Orji, held that though the initial contract sum due to Aqua Oil Nigeria Limited was N171million, she cannot but agree with the claimant (Aqua Oil Nigeria Limited) on a 21 per cent per annum interest sum on the initial amount from February 2006 when the job was executed for the Swedish firm.
Justice Orji also ordered a 10 per cent interest per annum on the said amount until the judgment sum is fully liquidated.
The judge further held that the court took judicial notice that naira had drastically lost its value from 2006 to 2023, 17 years after the contract was consummated by both parties and executed by the claimant.
“In the instant case, the claimant has been deprived of his money for services rendered to the 1st defendant (Ericsson) since 2006 which has paralysed the business of the claimant,” the judge affirmed.
Justice Orji, who ordered an award of N10 million as general damages against the company, declared that “by failing to pay for the three clearing contract jobs which culminated in this suit, the first defendant is in breach of contract.
“Therefore, I enter judgment in favour of the claimant against the 1st defendant only,” she said.
Although, the claimant’s counsel, Chief Duro Adeyele (SAN), demanded a N500,000 cost of filing the case against L.M. Ericsson, the Swedish company’s lawyer, Adeleke Adepoju, however, urged the court to dismiss the claim.
Justifying his claim, Adeyele said: “We have spent 17 years on this matter and since 2007, we have been in court. We have spent money bringing our witnesses to court.”
But Adepoju argued that the delay in the matter was mostly contributed by Nigerian Telecommunications Ltd (NITEL) (the 2nd defendant) being liquidated, among others.
The judge, however, awarded the sum of N200,000 against L.M. Ericsson as cost of instituting the suit.
“A successful litigant is entitled to costs. The suit lasted 16 years in court. This is a very long time.
“However, this matter unfortunately suffered some serious hiccups before its determination today,” the judge noted while delivering her judgment on April 17, 2023.
The certified true copy (CTC) of the judgement in favour of Aqua Oil Nigeria Limited was, however, obtained on Thursday, June 20, 2023.
