Hearing on an appeal by Zedici Capital Ltd, the firm which remodelled the Obudu Mountain Resort in Cross River State at the Abuja division of the Court of Appeal has stalled due to inability of the court to form a quorum.
The clerks of the court informed parties that owing to the lack of a quorum, a new date would be communicated to the parties.
The company had through its lawyer, Moses Ofeoshi Esq., filed the appeal against the Government of Cross River State and the Attorney General of the state following the judgment of an FCT High Court in 2019 refusing to affirm the arbitral award to Zedici Ltd over its investment over N3.8 billion in the resort.
In the appeal, it further contended that the FCT High Court presided by Justice Angela Otaluka erred in law when it held that the replacement of the arbitrator for Cross River State after the withdrawal of its arbitrator Nella Andem-Rabana (SAN) was not in compliance with the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 2004.
The firm in its four grounds of appeal argues that the high court misdirected itself to presuppose that Zedici appointed an arbitrator for the respondents after their arbitrator withdrew.
“The trial court fails to take cognisance of the relevant provisions of the law relating to the waiver of irregularities in arbitratikn proceedings,” it averred.
Zedici invoked the arbitration clause after the state government breached the 25-year concession agreement made on March 1, 2018 for the rehabilitation, remodelling, finance, operation, and transfer of the mountain resort in Obanliku under a Public Private Partnership (PPP) model.
Zedici averred that as a result of the agreement, it invested N3.8 billion fixing all the facilities and providing infrastructure and security at the resort and the host Becheve community.
The judge had upheld the submission of the state government and the attorney general that the said withdrawal of their arbitrator denied them the opportunity to participate in the arbitration proceedings.
Speaking after the proceedings, Ofeoshi said the arbitral award was clear that the contract was still subsisting.
“We would be asking the court to set aside the judgment because it will naturally discourage investment if investors like this, who brought in other investors, put in money, and at the end of the day, one party can come in and summarily, unilaterally take over against the spirit of the agreement; it will have collateral effect,” he said.
Speaking on the dispute, a native of Becheve, Friday Keche called on the Ben Ayade-led Government of Cross River State to urgently reopen dialogue with Zedici to resolve the dispute.
He said the company’s infrastructure and scholarship programmes for the community by the has remained at a standstill since the commencement of the dispute.
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