Plaintiff further stated that by Exhibit A3 and the testimony of PW2, the bill
for the Accountant is 12.75 Million Naira whilst Exhibit A5 shows that the
bill for the Solicitor is 25.5 Million Naira; both bills were pleaded. Plaintiff
concluded that the special damages pleaded and proved amount to
$71,781,321.32 Million Naira, being the principal and interest on same as
wel] as Solicitor’s and Accountant’s fees. Plaintiff urged the Court to award
the special damages pleaded and proved in addition to general damages of
300 Million Naira against defendants for flagrant breach of contract.
29. PlaintifPs arguments continued that the defendants demonstrated
throughout the trial that they had no defence to this action. They failed to
cross examine plaintiff's witnesses though they were recalled at plaintiff's
expense for such cross examination. Defendants also failed to call witnesses
of their own to controvert the evidence of plaintiff's witnesses. Plaintiff
concluded its address by urging the Court to enter judgment in its favour as
per the reliefs claimed.
CONSIDERATION BY THE COURT
30. The
issue
for consideration
plaintiff an amount
of 255
in this suit is whether
defendants
owe
Million Naira and if so, whether plaintiff is
entitled to interest on the said sum, Solicitor’s and Accountant fees as well
as general damages.
31. Plaintiff pleaded that defendants owe it an amount of 255 Million Naira
and called two witnesses, PW1 and PW4 to testify in support thereof. The
evidence of PW1 essentially is that the first defendant paid 230 Million
Naira out of a total debt of 485 Million Naira it owed to the plaintiff for the
supply of 5 million litres of AGO to Shell Petroleum Development
Corporation (SPDC) on behalf of first defendant. PW1 continued that after
failed attempts by the first defendant to settle the outstanding sum owed to
the plaintiff, the parties voluntarily entered into an agreement (Exhibit Al)
whereby second defendant undertook to pay the debt of the first defendant if
it failed to. A cheque (Exhibit A2) issued for the outstanding sum of 255
Million Naira was dishonoured when it was presented because defendants
did not have sufficient funds in their bank account.
10