Lagos Country Club’s crisis: Federal High Court adjourns hearing

The crisis rocking the Lagos Country Club [LCC] has yet to be resolved, contrary to speculations in some quarters.

Three suits involving LCC are pending before a Federal High Court [FHC] in Ikoyi, Lagos.

The court has adjourned hearing in the suits to the 15th of July, 2025.

The Court Registrar, in a notice on Tuesday 10th June, 2025, gave the new date of 15th July, 2025 for further hearing in the suits, to wit: FHC/L/CS/1704/24 ADEMOSU V. REG. TRUSTEES LCC; FHC/L/CS/1792/24 FASHANU V. REG. TRUSTEES LCC and FHC/L/CS/657/25 TIMMY KOLAWOLE V. REG. TRUSTEES LCC.

Hearing in the suits was initially adjourned to 9th June, 2025, but due to the Sallah holidays declared for Friday 6th and Monday 9th June, 2025, it was further adjourned.

Lagos Country Club has been embroiled in a series of crises which blew open in February last year after some members of the defunct Management Council (MC) sought the intervention of the Federal High Court Lagos to remain in office despite the weighty allegations of financial infractions against them.

The allegations, contained in the petitions submitted by two members of the Club, have remained unresolved.

The Registered Trustees of the Club led by Aare Kola Oyefeso also sued the members of the Management Council to enforce the suspension of the Council following the lack of quorum arising from the constitutional requirement that any officer with an allegation of offences should step aside until investigation is concluded, and he or she is found not guilty.

Later, in July 2024, the Federal High Court Lagos issued a Consent Judgement (CJ) which put in place a Caretaker Committee to run the affairs of the Club until cases at the Federal High Court were dispensed with.

Thereafter, three (3) new cases emerged filed by the two petitioners and a member of the former Management Council seeking voiding of the Consent Judgment on the grounds that the members of the past Management Council who signed the same including the former president, Seyi Adewunmi, impersonated the officials of the Management Council when their tenure had expired and because the accused officers were allowed to pick members of the Committee that would decide their own case against the principle of fair hearing.

Sometime in October, 2024, the Court ordered that the status-quo be maintained but the Club’s Registered Trustees, nonetheless, went ahead with elections and inauguration of a new Management Council including some of the accused ex-officers of the Management Council while the cases are still pending.

The Club’s crisis deepened in April 2025 as the Economic Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) invited some of its officers for questioning on festering allegations of financial improprieties against the immediate past president of the Club, Mr. Seyi Adewunmi; Vice President, Mr. Tunji Amosu; Treasurer, Otunba Abimbola Olaniyi; Architect Tokunbo Ashiru, Council Member, and Mr. Osemoje Lato, Social Secretary of the immediate past Management Council. The EFCC’s investigation is ongoing.

Sources in the Club said that the crises rocking the club had yet to be resolved despite the phantom elections held to elect new Management Council, and the botched extraordinary Annual General Meetings called to ratify many bogus resolutions.

The resort to election of the new Management Council, according to some members, appeared to constitute an assault on the court rulings that ordered the maintenance of the status quo.