A fierce legal wrangling over ownership is threatening one of Lagos most popular hospitals
More than three decades after opening its doors to save lives, Eko Hospital, one of Lagos’ most popular health facilities, is currently battling to save its own life amid a fierce ownership battle threatening to rip the hospital apart.
The facility is the only hospital business quoted in the Nigerian Stock Exchange under the auspices of Ekocorp Plc. And now, what appears the hospital’s increasingly prospects, with at least three facilities in Ikeja, Surulere, and Ikoyi areas of Lagos, are at the centre of a bitter confrontation between its founders and shareholders, court documents seen by PREMIUM TIMES show.
“This is a battle for the life of Eko Hospital,” one of the lawyers in the suit said.
“This is a battle for the life of Eko Hospital,” one of the lawyers in the suit said.
Established in 1982 by three medical doctors, Alexander Eneli, Sunday Kuku, and Augustine Obiora, the trio merged the first letter of their surnames to form the hospital’s name, EKO. The hospital has grown into a private teaching hospital expanding from Ikeja to Surulere and beyond.
After it became a public liability company in 1991, the hospital’s name was changed to Ekocorp Plc in 1994.
Court papers detail how the founding directors are locked in an ownership battle with Geoffrey Ohen, a shareholder in the company.
In his statement to the court, Mr. Kuku narrated how Mr. Ohen surreptitiously acquired the company’s shares to become the majority shareholder.
According to Mr. Kuku, in the course of business, the hospital was exposed to huge financial liabilities and was unable to pay its creditors, including the founders’ entitlements and emoluments of office.
“Between June 2001 and December 2007, the three founding directors who are the petitioners in the suit were being owed various sums of money which the 3rd Respondent (Ekocorp Plc) has been unable to pay them till date,” Mr. Kuku said.
A breakdown of the money owed the directors showed that Mr. Kuku is owed N43 million; Mr. Obiora N42 million; and Mr. Eneli N27 million.
After the passing of one of the founding directors (Mr. Eneli), the company was unable to pay the emoluments and other entitlements accruable to the estate of the deceased as a result of the financial constraints it faced.
“Consequently, the management proposed and persuaded the family of the deceased and the other founders to consider the option of converting greater part of the debt owed to them to equity through debt-equity swap,” Mr. Kuku said.
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