FBN Holdings Plc to Proceed with AGM Despite Court Order

FBN Holdings Plc, the parent company of First Bank of Nigeria Limited, has announced that it will go ahead with its Annual General Meeting (AGM) scheduled for August 15, 2023, despite being served with an ex parte order of interim injunction by the Federal High Court in Lagos.

FBN had initially denied receiving a court order stopping it from holding the Annual General Meeting (AGM) scheduled for August 15, 2023, and says the AGM would go as scheduled.

In a statement issued on the Exchange, the company disclosed this in a statement issued on August 14, 2023, and signed by its Company Secretary, Seye Kosoko.

According to the statement, the company was served with the court order on August 11, 2023, following a suit filed by three shareholders who sought to restrain the company from holding the AGM.

The statement explained that the company’s lawyers have filed and served on the petitioners the necessary processes and notice of appeal challenging the court order and seeking that it be set aside, as well as the entire proceedings.

The company also stated that it believes that it can proceed and is indeed proceeding with the AGM, which is a statutory meeting, in accordance with the applicable laws and regulations.

The statement read in part:

“In accordance with Nigerian Exchange Limited (Rulebook), and further to our announcement on August 10, 2023, that the Company was yet to be served with any Court Order, we hereby notify the Public and our Stakeholders that FBN Holdings Plc (“the Company”) was served with an ex parte order of interim Injunction on Friday, August 11, 2023, restraining it from proceeding with the proposed Annual General Meeting (AGM) as scheduled for August 15, 2023. This was via Suit No. FHC/L/CS/1575/23 – In the Matter of Olojede Adewole Solomon, Adebayo Oluwafemi Abayomi and Ogundiran Emmanuel Adejare vs. FBN Holdings Plc.

We confirm that our lawyers have filed and served on the Petitioners the necessary processes and notice of appeal challenging the said order and seeking that same, as well as the entire proceedings be set aside, paving way for the AGM to proceed on August 15, 2023, as earlier scheduled.

In light of the foregoing, the Company believes that it can proceed and is indeed proceeding with the AGM (which is a statutory meeting) as scheduled on August 15, 2023.

The AGM shall be conducted in accordance with the applicable laws and regulations, and the Company will continue to take all legal steps to prosecute its appeal against the exparte interim order with a view to securing its vacation as well as the setting aside of the proceedings in its entirety.”