FORMER commerce minister Chief Bola Kuforiji-Olubi appears to be serving out a one-month prison sentence in the UK after being found guilty of contempt of court on February 18 and ordered to be remanded at Holloway Prison.
Chief Kuforiji-Olubi, a former bank chief executive who served as a minister during the tenure of Chief Ernest Shonekan and General Sani Abacha, was convicted of contempt on February 18 by Justice Michael Burton of the Commercial Division of the High Court of Justice Queens Branch Division. She was found guilty of disobeying the orders of the court and remanded in custody at Holloway.
Apparently, Chief Kuforiji-Olubi attempted to repeat the levity with which high profile individuals usually treat court orders in Nigeria in London. Her son, Olutokunbo Afolabi Kuforiji, who is said to be allegedly on the run, was sentenced to four months imprisonment, and ordered to be remanded at the Her Majesty's Prison Pentonville from the day of apprehension.
In addition, the duo and their firm, Phoenixtide Offshore Nigeria, was ordered to pay the plaintiff, Tidewater Marine International, an accumulated sum of £300,000 as costs. Apparently trouble started for Chief Kuforiji-Olubi 10 years ago when Tidewater Marine International began a relationship with Phoenix Oceanlines to form a company called Phoenixtide Offshore Nigeria owned by the former minister and her family.
Under the terms of the non-exclusive agreement it was gathered Phoenixtide was expected to provide some local support services, while Tidewater provided the most costly elements including, technical services, the vessels and access to International Oil Companies. Key aspects of the agreement included a marketing commission payable to Phoenixtide on all transactions carried out by the collaboration, while all payments due from the services rendered were to be made to Tidewater, after which the commission due to Phoenixtide would be paid.
In addition, the parties also agreed that any disputes that might arise between them would be submitted to the high court in the UK for determination under English law, especially since both Chief Kuforiji-Olubi and her son, Olutokunbo, the managing director of Phoenixtide are British citizens. Both companies ended up parting ways in 2012, which led to litigation and it was in this process that Chief Kuforiji-Olubi was found guilty of disobeying court orders.
Chief Kuforiji-Olubi and her son, Olutokunbo, both refused to comply with the court’s orders and proceedings for contempt of court were commenced against both of them. Neither she nor her son were present for the initial hearing for their contempt, however through their lawyers, they claimed to have been unaware of the action until recently and were apologetic and asked for more time to respond.
However, the arguments their lawyers made were unpersuasive and Justice Burton found both Chief Kuforiji-Olubi and Olutokunbo to be in contempt. He consequently ordered a warrant for their arrest and sentenced the former minister to one month in prison and Olutokunbo to four months in prison.
