Nigerian Breweries Plc, the nation’s leading brewer has reacted to a judgment against it and in favour of the Ondo State Government by Ondo State High Court on the 27th of January, 2021 in respect of haulage fees assessed at N169 million.
Nigerian Breweries in a notification filed at the Nigerian Stock Exchange on Thursday said it had filed a Notice of Appeal against the said judgment as well as an application for stay of execution of the judgment pending the appeal.
The notification signed by Uaboi Agbebaku, Company Secretary said the company “does not engage in haulage business and does not own or operate any haulage truck whether in Ondo State or anywhere else. Haulage fees are by law, paid by companies in the haulage business. Independent third parties who are in the haulage business are wholly responsible for moving the Company’s products across the country and have always been responsible for the payment of haulage fees to the respective authorities.”
It said although the government had initially taken a self-help approach to seal the Depot on the 28th of January, 2021, the Government subsequently re-opened the Depot on the 2nd of February, 2021 following petitions by the Company’s lawyers on the unorthodox steps initially taken to seal the Depot.
“The company is committed to seeing the matter through to its logical conclusion by the courts with a view to preserving its legal rights,” the notification said.
“The Ondo State Government is our highly regarded stakeholder and partner in progress. As a responsible and law abiding corporate citizen, the Company takes the issue of compliance seriously and will continue to honour all legitimate statutory payment obligations applicable to it.”
