*CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER WINHOMES, IFEOMA OKENGWU LOSES SUIT AGAINST FEDERAL GOVERNMENT ON LAGOS-CALABAR COASTAL HIGHWAY PROJECT.*
– *FEDERAL HIGH COURT DISCOVERS THAT WINHOMES INTEREST IN THE LAND HAD BEEN DIVESTED/SOLD TO THIRD PARTIES, HOLDS THAT WINHOMES HAS FAILED TO DISCLOSE A REASONABLE CAUSE OF ACTION AGAINST FEDERAL GOVERNMENT*
All is not well with the competency of the suit filed by the Chief Executive Officer of WINHOMES Global Services Ltd, Ifeoma Stella Okengwu against the Federal Ministry of Works whereof the Plaintiff sought for $250m damages and restrictive injunction against the federal government of Nigeria over the easement needed by the federal government on the alleged WINHOMES land for the construction of Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway.
In the suit number: FHC/L/CS/1803/2024 *WINHOMES ESTATE GLOBAL SERVICES LIMITED & ANOR v. THE HON. ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE FEDERATION & MINISTER FOR JUSTICE & 4 ORS]* pending in the Federal High Court sitting at Ikoyi, Lagos State,the court discovered that WINHOMES’ interest in the subject matter of dispute has been divested/ sold to third parties and that WINHOMES Global Services failed woefully to disclose a reasonable cause of action against the federal government.
In a nutshell, the presiding judge,Honourable Justice Aluko, struck out the suit with costs based on the following grounds:
•The court lacks subject matter jurisdiction in the suit under section 251 of the Constitution because the Plaintiffs’ claims border on land use and trespass outside the court’s jurisdiction.
•The Plaintiffs lack locus standi to initiate the action because the Plaintiffs admitted in the processes they filed that their interest in the land had been divested/sold to third parties. It was further held that the plaintiffs did not disclose a reasonable cause of action against the Defendants.
@ Special Adviser (Media) to the Honourable Minister of Works
