Tussle for ownership of the Sheraton Lagos
Hotel and Towers and its parent company,
Ikeja Hotels Plc, on Tuesday deepened, as the
Ibru family members were pitched against
each other in a supremacy battle.
As one group led by Maiden Ibru, the widow
of late Guardian Publisher, Alex, moved to
hold an Extraordinary General Meeting, EGM,
another, led by the hotel chairman, Goodie
Ibru, dismissed resolutions from the meeting
as null, void and of no effect.
On December 1, 2014, Mrs. Ibru had moved to
effect a change in the management of Ikeja
Hotels Plc by publishing a notice for an EGM
of the company in the Guardian and Punch
Newspapers.
Mrs. Ibru’s notice followed the order of the
court earlier based on an ex-parte motion
directing the company to hold the EGM on
January 6, 2015 at the Sheraton Hotels, Ikeja.
However, the other members of the Ibru
family, led by Goodie Ibru, obtained an ex-
parte injunction from the Federal High Court,
Abuja, to restrain Mrs. Ibru from convening
the meeting, or representing her late
husband’s investment interests in Ikeja Hotels
Plc.
The Goodie Ibru’s faction claimed the ex-parte
motion was sequel to a bitter litigation
between the children of the first wife, Helen,
and the second, Maiden.
However, on Tuesday, some shareholders of
the hotel, following a Federal High court
order, said they had sacked Goodie Ibru as
the chairman and director of the company,
over alleged corporate governance infractions.
The alleged sack of Mr. Ibru was said to have
been approved unanimously by the
shareholders at an EGM held in Lagos.
The shareholders had also appointed Olumide
Braithwaite and Tunde Sarumi, as directors of
the company.
The faction also tasked KPMG Nigeria Limited
to carry out a forensic audit of the
management of the hotel for the period 1999
and 2014 when Mr. Ibru was its chairman.
The management consultancy firm was also
mandated by the shareholders to carry out a
forensic audit of the share register, as well as
verify all funding and payments for the
company shares amounting to two per cent or
more held directly or indirectly by investors.
The meeting was presided over by an interim
Chairman, Rasheed Olaoluwa, appointed by
the shareholders.
Mr. Olaoluwa, a shareholder in the hotel, is
the Managing Director, Bank of Industry, BOI.
The meeting however witnessed a drama, as
some shareholders, following a court
injunction granted Mr. Ibru by the Federal
High Court, Abuja, were barred from
accessing the premises of Sheraton Hotels.
The president, Progressive Shareholders of
Nigeria, Boniface Okezie, said the
shareholders were on a rescue mission to
ensure good corporate governance and avoid
the collapse of the company.
According to Mr. Okezie, the shareholders
would defy the barricades at the hotel’s
entrance and pass all the resolutions
necessary to save the company.
“We are rescuing this company from the
hands of the cabals. We are legally authorised
to hold this meeting,” Mr. Okezie told
reporters.
The shareholders’ president accused the
regulating agencies of failing on their
responsibilities, saying members were
determined to remove the virus that was
eating deep into the company.
The general secretary, Independent
Shareholders Association of Nigeria, Adeleke
Adebayo, described the development as an
abuse of court process.
He accused Ibru of abusing the privilege of
being part of the management to lock the
gates of the hotel against the shareholders,
describing the action as an assault by a tenant
against the real owners of the business.
National President, Constance Shareholders
Association of Nigeria, Shehu Mikail, blamed
the judiciary for allowing itself to be used,
saying there was need for synergy among
judiciary workers, in the interest of the
economy and the country as a whole.
He said that an Abuja High Court could not
have granted an injunction to a meeting
approved by the Lagos High Court, if the
nation’s judiciary system was sound.
“We want a better management that will
protect the interest of minority shareholders,
so that we will start receiving dividends.” Mr.
Mikail said.
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