Shareholding: Court dismisses Ismaila Isa Funtua’s suit against 9mobile

*The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja strikes out a suit businessman Abubakar Ismaila Isa Funtua, filed against Emerging Markets Telecommunication Services Limited, operators of 9mobile, over alleged transfer of his 43 million shares, without his consent

Alexander Davis | ConsumerConnect

The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, FCT, has struck out a suit businessman Abubakar Ismaila Isa Funtua, filed over alleged transfer of his 43 million shares, without consent, to Emerging Markets Telecommunication Services Limited (EMTS), operators of 9mobile.

Delivering judgment in the case marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1971/2024 on September 24, 2025, Justice Mohammed Umar held that Isa, the lone plaintiff, lacked the locus standi (legal capacity) to institute the action against the nine defendants.

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The defendants in the case were: Seltrix Limited, Hayatu Hassan Hadejia, Teleology Nigeria Limited, Mohammed Edewor, EMTS, the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), LH Telecommunication Limited, and General Theophilus Yakubu Danjuma.

Isa, through Femi Atteh, SAN, his counsel had commenced the suit December 27, 2024, seeking 11 reliefs.

The reliefs include a declaration that he was the beneficial owner of the disputed shares allegedly held in trust for him by Seltrix Limited in Teleology Nigeria Limited.

However, the 3rd, 4th, 5th, 8th, and 9th defendants, represented by Michael Aondakaa, SAN, C.I. Okpoko, SAN, R.O. Atabo, SAN, A.T. Kohol, Esq., and C.C. Ogbonna, Esq., filed a joint preliminary objection dated February 5, 2025, urging the court to dismiss the case for want of jurisdiction, and as an abuse of the court process.

After reviewing arguments from all parties, Justice Umar upheld the objection of the defendants, ruling that Isa failed to show any legal interest in the subject matter.

The Judge ruled: “I carefully perused the said exhibit to see if the allegation of the Plaintiff is substantiated, I did not find any.

“Nowhere was there any figure of the 43,000,000 million Ordinary Shares held in trust for the Plaintiff by the 1st Defendant mentioned.”

He stated: “In fact, the 2nd Defendant denied any business dealings with the Plaintiff and these facts were not controverted by the Plaintiff.

“The said exhibits cannot by any imagination constitute a trust to confer locus standi on the Plaintiff.

“The said exhibits were tendered by the Plaintiff, but nowhere did it link the Plaintiff to his claims to enable him to institute an action on the facts alleged therein.”

The court also held that the plaintiff failed to establish the facts he asserted and to link his claims to the exhibits he himself tendered by virtue of averment in this suit.

Justice Umar further said: “I find that the Objectors have adequately countered the said exhibits in their reply on points of law in tandem with the law that failure to respond to a counter affidavit is deemed to be an admission.”

The Judge ruled: “I resolve the issue of locus standi against the Plaintiff, and the law is that where a Plaintiff has been adjudged to lack locus standi, it does not matter what other issues have been raised for determination in the suit.”

The court as well noted that since the Plaintiff lacked the capacity to institute the action, there was no need to make a pronouncement on grounds two to nine (2-9) of the 3rd, 4th, 5th, 8th and 9th Defendants’ Notice of Preliminary Objections, which included claims that the suit was statute-barred, incompetent, and that Isa was a “meddlesome interloper” seeking to frustrate the operations of EMTS.

He stated: “I, therefore, make an Order striking out this action for lack of locus standi of the Plaintiff. This is the Order of this Court.”