Connect with us

Politics

Imo LP governorship candidate sues British Airways

Sen. Athan Achonu, the Labour Party (LP) candidate in the recently concluded Imo governorship election, has sued the British Airways, demanding N200 million in damages over alleged contract breach.

Achonu, through his lawyer, Okwudili Anozie, filed the suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/755/2024 before Justice Inyang Ekwo of a Federal High Court in Abuja.

In the writ of summons dated May 29 and filed May 31, the politician sued British Airways as sole defendant, wherein he sought five claims.

Achonu demanded a refund of the fare paid for the ticket purchased by him from the defendant for the Lagos-Houston return journey amounting to the sum of £16,505.00 (sixteen thousand five hundred and five pounds sterling).

He also prayed the court to ordered the airline to pay the sum of N200 million as general damages.

He equally sought a 20 per cent interest per annum on his claim number one above, from December 21, 2022, when the defendant cancelled his booking until judgment is delivered in the suit.

Achonu further sought a 10 per cent interest per annum from the date of judgment until the judgment sum is fully liquidated.

He, therefore, sought a compensation for the cost of the suit.

In his statement of claim, Achonu, who described himself as a businessman, said he is a premium traveller with the British Airways “and is a gold member of the defendant’s executive club.”

He said he purchased the airline’s first class ticket for his trip to Houston through London at a cost of £16,505.00 (sixteen thousand, five hundred and five pounds sterling) for his return trip from Lagos-Houston.

“The ticket with booking reference number M7NORM, outlined that the defendant’s flight would take off on 15th December, 2022 from Lagos, arrive at London on the 16th December, 2022, take off from London on 21st December, 2022 and arrive Houston same day.

“For the return journey, the Houston – London trip was scheduled for 11th January, 2023 and the London — Lagos trip was fixed for 11th January, 2023.

Advertisement
“The plaintiff pleads and shall rely on a copy of his ticket.

“The plaintiff travelled from Lagos to London on the 15th of December, 2022 without any encumbrance.

“However, on reaching London, the plaintiff had a business engagement that necessitated extending his stay in London.

“Prior to the plaintiff’s departure date from London, he informed the defendant’s office of his intention to change his traveling date to Houston from 21/12/2022 to 22/12/2022 for which he was charged $563 (five hundred and sixty three United States dollars).

“The plaintiff informed the defendant’s staff that he has an outstanding voucher with over $4000 that should be used to settle the sum but this request was refused by the defendant whose staff insisted that the defendant’s E-Voucher was unacceptable for the service and that the plaintiff has to make a fresh payment to effect the date change.”

According to him, the defendant’s staff vehemently refused for the $563 to be deducted from the plaintiff’s E-voucher number: 125-421 4295529 issued to him by the defendant.

He said he decided to use the debit card attached to his company’s bank account since the airline refused the request that payment should be deducted from the E-voucher.

“But same was refused by the defendant’s staff who insisted the plaintiff must use a bank card bearing his own name.

“The defendant’s staff had further informed the plaintiff that his ticket would be cancelled for failure to pay the $563 date change fee with his personal bank card and therefore the unused London-Houston journey, as well as the Houston-Lagos return journey stands forfeited.

“As a result of the defendant’s action, the plaintiff had to source for funds to purchase an entirely new ticket with which he made his trip from London to Houston and back to Nigeria.

“The plaintiff, who is a first-class traveller and a gold member of the defendant’s executive club deserved a better treatment than what was meted out to him by the defendant,” Achonu said

The businessmen insisted that the British Airways’ refusal to use the funds in the E-voucher it had issued to him or apply his company’s debit card to defray cost of the date change was not in consonance with the airline’s contract with him.

According to him, the defendant’s inordinate actions have foisted undue stress and financial loss to the plaintiff.

“The plaintiff is left with no other choice but to seek redress from this honourable court,” he said.

Upon resumed hearing in the suit, Gregory Ukpong, who appeared for Achonu, told the court that though the matter was fixed for mention, he had a little mix up with regards to service.

“In the circumstance, we will be asking for a further date,” Ukpong said.

“You filed this matter on 25th May, 2024. Today is 29th October, 2024 and you are coming to talk about service,” Justice Ekwo asked him rhetorically.

The lawyer responded that they mobilised the bailiff for service but they just realised that there was a mix up.

“You may not be lucky as you are today next time as I might have to penalise you,” the judge said, and adjourned the matter until Feb 19, 2025 for further mention.

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Politics

ZLP clinches 15 chairmanship seats, YPP 2 in Abia LG election

The Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) has won 15 out of 17 local government areas in the local government election conducted in Abia State on Saturday.

Chairman of the Abia State Independent Electoral Commission (ABSIEC), Prof Chima George, disclosed that ZLP won the 15 LGAs while announcing the results of the election.

Prof George announced that the Young Progressives Party (YPP) won in the Osisioma and Ugwunagbo local government areas of the State.

The Abia local government election results were announced by ABSIEC Chairman at the commission’s headquarters in Umuahia, where he said said that the chairmanship and councillorship polls took place in the 17 Local Government Areas (LGAs) and that the exercise was “free fair and credible”.

“We have carried out the duty we were inaugurated on September 5 to undertake. It was not an easy task, but we went out on our way to create awareness about the elections across the state.

“It must be noted that, in recent times, this commission has not conducted an election where over 12 political parties took part, this on its own is a plus to the commission,” George said.

He stressed the election was a demonstration of the commission’s dedication, focus and efficiency. He expressed joy that the commission successfully completed, in just two months, a task that typically required six to 12 months of effort.

“I congratulate the winners and the losers too, because in any election there must be winners and losers. The most important thing is that Abia has been peaceful and I want the peace to continue.

“I appreciate the security agencies for their support, political parties for playing the game according to the rule,” George said.

TNG reports ZLP won in Isiala Ngwa South, Isiala Ngwa North, Umuahia North, Umuahia South, Ukwa East, Ukwa West, Obingwa, Aba North, Aba South, Isuikwuato, Umunneochi, Arochukwu, Bende, and Ohafia LGAs, while the remaining two LGAs of Osisioma and Ugwunagbo were won by YPP.

Continue Reading

Politics

Our Chairman not in contempt of court – INEC replies SERAP

The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has refuted accusations by the Socio-economic Rights and Accountability Project, SERAP, that its chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu flouted a court order regarding the prosecution of electoral offenders.

INEC National Commissioner and Chairman of Information and Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun, said this in a statement Wednesday in Abuja.

Olumekun said the commission’s attention was drawn to media reports attributed to SERAP accusing the Commission of failure or neglect to prosecute electoral offenders arising from the 2023 General Election.

Recall that SERAP had specifically accused the Commission of failure to engage independent counsels to prosecute unnamed Governors and Deputy Governors for sundry violations of electoral laws.

SERAP also accused the Commission of failing to engage private lawyers to prosecute other electoral offences, including vote buying during the same election. These allegations are untrue in the face of facts already in the public domain, the agency said.

Reacting, INEC said Governors and Deputy Governors have constitutional immunity from prosecution and that SERAP cannot be unaware of this constitutional provisions.

The electoral umpire further stated that in any case, it has no record that any of them has been arrested, or investigated and a prima facie case was established to initiate their prosecution.

“Furthermore, if SERAP had done a basic fact check, it would have known that at the end of the 2023 General Election, the Commission announced that it received 215 case files from the Nigeria Police following the arrest and investigation of alleged violators of the electoral laws across the country.

These include 52 files involving 238 alleged offenders during the Presidential and National Assembly elections and 163 files in respect of 536 suspects for the Governorship and State Assembly elections.

“It is important to also inform the public that the Commission’s commitment to the prosecution of electoral offenders is not limited to persons who are outside the Commission.

Indeed, officials of the Commission, some of them highly placed, have been affected, including a Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) currently being prosecuted in a High Court in Yola,” INEC said.

Continue Reading

Politics

Ondo guber: Parties to sign peace accord November 8

The various political parties participating in the forthcoming Ondo State governorship election will sign a Peace Accord on November 8.

The National Peace Committee and the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, coordinated the initiative aimed at securing a peaceful election process.

INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, announced this on Thursday in Abuja, saying the Commission has identified potential flashpoints in Ondo and alerted security agencies for effective conflict mapping.

Speaking during the fourth quarterly meeting with Civil Society Organizations, CSOs, Yakubu noted that INEC would conduct a final readiness assessment next week, involving stakeholders, officials, security agencies, and transport providers.

The INEC boss also shared that the Permanent Voter’s Cards, PVC collection period concluded recently, with 64,273 out of 89,777 PVCs distributed—a collection rate of 71.6%.

He credited CSOs with helping mobilize voters for card collection and indicated that INEC would publish cumulative PVC collection figures by polling unit on its website.

Yakubu expressed satisfaction with improvements to the voter accreditation process and result upload procedures, as well as enhancements in media and observer accreditations.

Continue Reading
Advertisement

Trending