Tag: FAQs

The attention of Sahara Energy Resource Limited (Nigeria) (“SERL”) and the entire Sahara Group has been drawn to a publication in the Guardian Newspaper of 11th April 2019 made by United Bank for Africa Plc (“UBA”) and their counsel pursuant to the ex parte order made by the Honorable Mr. Justice Liman of the Federal High Court, Lagos Division, in Suit No. FHC/L/CP/387/19 pursuant to a winding up petition in Suit No. FHC/L/CP/387/19.

Sahara has reviewed the publication and wish to comment as follows:

1. SERL is not indebted to UBA, has no outstanding facilities with UBA nor did it borrow any money from UBA in any loan transaction that is the subject matter of either the civil petition (FHC/L/CP/387/19) or the civil summons (FHC/L/CS/387/19 as advertised) that formed the subject of the ex parte order;
2. SERL did not grant a direct guarantee to UBA on any loan transaction that UBA could unilaterally enforce or sue on;
3. SERL and one of its affiliate companies, NG Power-HPS Limited sued UBA in Suit No. FHC/L/CS/236/19 at the Federal High Court, Lagos, on 13th February 2019, claiming a number of declarative and injunctive remedies relating to unorthodox methods employed by UBA in relation to its dealings with the Plaintiffs.
4. UBA, on12thMarch2019suedNewElectricityDistributionCompanyLimited and SERL along with two other institutions, First Trustees Limited and Ecobank Capital Limited in Suit No. FHC/L/CS/382/2019, by way of Originating Summons, claiming certain declarations and injunctions to which SERL has filed full and comprehensive response.
5. The two suits in paragraphs 3 and 4 have been set down for hearing before the Federal High Court in Lagos on 30th May 2019. While the above two suits are pending and have been set down for hearing, UBA commenced a third suit on the 13th of March, and applied ex parte, (and without putting SERL on notice before serving the petition) obtained an order exparteto advertise the petition.
6. The petition was only served on SERL at about 12.25 p.m. on 11th April 2019after it has been advertised as aforesaid.
7. Our lawyers have been duly instructed and have taken all necessary steps to ensure that the order is discharged or set aside as soon as practicable.
8. SERL and the entire Sahara Group will vigorously pursue and defend UBA’s petition to its logical conclusion with a view to dismissing the petition.
9. We assure our esteemed clients, bankers, suppliers, stakeholders and the general public that SERL and its legal team are taking all lawful steps to ensure that SERL interest is vigorously defended and SERL has implicit confidence in the Nigerian judiciary to resolve the matter and dispense justice between the parties.
10. SERL will provide periodic updates to its esteemed clients, suppliers and bankers as may be necessary, of steps being taken in connection with the suits and the results of effort to set aside the order and strike out the suit.

Sahara Group Energy Resource Limited is delighted to report that it has obtained judgment in its favour against Mr. Jackson Ude, Mr. Ben Young, Uduma Uba and Point Blank News which declared that the Defendant’s publications on their online news website

Our attention has been drawn to a choreographed smear campaign being sponsored by a supposed credible news online portal; The Zambia Watchdog which remains faceless.

Their most recent article is a totally baseless and false story tagged: “Sahara Energy appoints Richard Sakala as spin doc, hosts Zambian journalists” – which was published on the site on July 12, 2017 (https://www.zambiawatchdog.com/sahara-energy- appoints-richard-sakala-as-spin-doc-hosts-zambian-journalists/).

 We here by state the following for the records;

We state categorically that; The Sahara Group has at no time appointed Richard Sakala or any other individual/organization in Zambia or in any other jurisdictions to execute any media projects or other media relations activities on its behalf.

The claim in the article that $2 million was paid for the alleged engagement is utterly false, baseless and at variance with Sahara’s unwavering commitment to business integrity.

Sahara Group has a robust corporate communications department that interacts with its various stakeholders as is standard practice for leading conglomerates across the globe.

As part of our commitment to transparency, Sahara Group routinely invites and also takes up requests from reporters from the print, electronic and digital media to tour its facilities and operations across the globe. These tours provide an opportunity for the media to have first-hand experience of the Sahara Brand and to obtain first-hand information on the Group’s activities. This is a standard media relations practice across the globe, especially for leading conglomerates like Sahara whose operations cover diverse cultures and markets.

Sahara has in the past had interactions with news organizations from countries in which we operate, including but not limited to Nigeria, Ghana, Cote D’Ivoire, Zambia, Cameroon, United States of America, Tanzania, South Africa, South Korea and the United Kingdom.

Some of these media organizations have included, but not limited to: The Economist, Bloomberg, Reuters, Financial Times, Cable Network News (CNN), the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Forbes Africa, CNBC Africa, Joy FM Ghana, Daily Graphic Ghana, The Guardian Tanzania, Business Times Zambia, Channels TV, Nigerian Television Authority, TVC Africa, Guardian, ThisDay, Punch and News Agency of Nigeria, among other media organizations in our locations.

Sahara has severally reiterated its commitment to zero tolerance for political donations – a position that is backed by a policy that guides every member of staff. Please click here to see our previous response on the issue.

It is important to add that in recognition of Sahara’s commitment to spearheading good governance towards rebuilding trust and integrity in business in Africa, one of its Directors, Mr. Tonye Cole recently became a member of the World Economic Forum’s “Future of Trust and Integrity Project”. Sahara is also a member of the WEF’s Partnership Against Corruption Initiative (PACI).

As a leading African energy and infrastructure conglomerate, we remain committed to collaborating with stakeholders across the globe in the quest for promoting business integrity, transparency, and sustainable development.