The emergence of Aliko Dangote, erstwhile vice president of the council of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE, and chairman, Dangote Group, as the president of the council, August 6, was historic, according to Ndi Okereke-Onyiuke, NSE director-general. Also historic was what followed the victory dance.

. “There was no voting. He was elected with unanimous acclamation. No vote was cast, everybody agreed in unison and clapped for him. There was no ballot. That has happened only once in the history of the stock exchange,” an elated Okereke-Onyiuke told newsmen.

But the reaction of stakeholders of the Nigerian capital market to the news was equally historic. They went to court, protesting the election, an act unprecedented in the history of the NSE. Dangote’s tenure is barely two weeks old, but the multibillionaire business mogul is already fighting tooth and nail to keep the position. In what is fast turning out to be a drama, his tenure as president is now enmeshed in a web of lawsuits.

It all started on August 4, two days before the election, when some shareholders of African Petroleum, AP, who were not happy with the outcome of the African Petroleum, AP-Dangote share manipulation scam, obtained a court injunction against fielding him as a candidate in the election. Mohammed Lima, a judge of the Federal High Court in Lagos, had on August 4 ordered that the status quo be maintained, pending the hearing on the substantive suit on August 11. The suit, an ex-parte motion, was filed by the AP on behalf of 14 others. However on August 6, the election took place in the hallowed chamber room of the council, after the annual general meeting, AGM.

But last Tuesday, August 11, AP shareholders in Lagos, in an application, asked the court to nullify the election of Dangote as president of the council, which they said was in defiance of the solemn orders of court delivered on August 4, 2009. Charles Edosomwan, counsel to the NSE, challenged the original suit, contending that the said shareholders lacked the locus standi to initiate the action as "they are not members of the NSE." Edosomwan further contended that the shareholders had not shown any identifiable legal interest in who should occupy what position in the council of the NSE.

Lima, in a short ruling, held that even though the preliminary objection was pending, the issue raised in the application for the nullification of Dangote’s election as the president of the NSE seemed more ripe for hearing, as it raised issues bordering on the court preserving its integrity. The court consequently adjourned till September 29 for hearing in the said application. When the magazine contacted Shola Oni, assistant general manager, NSE, to comment on the issue, he played safe by saying, “The case is in court already and I cannot comment on it.”

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