The Federal High Court in Abuja ordered the Director-General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), Alex Okoh, to be remanded in prison for a minimum of 30 days.
Justice Anwuri Chikere, who gave the order, accused Okoh of serial disobedience of the Supreme Court order on the ownership controversy of the Aluminium Smelter Company of Nigeria (ALSCON).
ALSCON, located at Ikot Abasi in Akwa Ibom State, has been the subject of an ownership struggle since the government privatised the firm in 2004. Russia’s Rusal claims ownership of the company while the indigenous BFIG won a Supreme Court ruling backing its ownership claim.
Despite multiple court rulings, the Nigerian government, represented by the privatisation agency, BPE, has refused to transfer ownership of the firm to BFIG.
If the court could do this, why didn’t it give such order to the DSS who invaded the court.
