The ECOWAS Court of Justice sitting in Abuja has ordered the Federal Government of Nigeria to investigate the 1978 seizure of shares belonging to a 94-year-old Nigerian businessman, Mr Kolawole Koiki, in the New Nigeria Salt Company Limited by the former military government.

The regional court also awarded Mr Koiki the sum of ₦5 million as compensation for the violation of his right to a fair hearing within a reasonable time, contrary to Article 7(1)(d) of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, to which Nigeria is a state party.

In addition, the court directed the Federal Government to take all necessary steps to ensure the prompt hearing and determination of Mr Koiki’s complaint currently pending before the National Human Rights Commission, without any further delay.

The judgment followed a suit instituted by Mr Koiki against the Federal Republic of Nigeria over the prolonged failure of the NHRC to conclude the hearing and determination of a complaint he submitted to the Commission concerning the seizure of his shares.

Mr Koiki’s complaint arose from the takeover of the New Nigeria Salt Company Limited in 1978 by the Federal Military Government under a law that expressly removed the jurisdiction of courts from entertaining any legal challenge to the seizure. He maintained that his shares were confiscated without any form of compensation.

The suit was filed on his behalf by human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mr Femi Falana, who argued that the NHRC’s failure to conclude investigations into the complaint amounted to a breach of Mr Koiki’s fundamental right to a fair hearing under Article 7(1) of the African Charter.

Delivering judgment in suit number ECW/CCJ/APP/46/21 on November 17, 2025, the ECOWAS Court noted that Mr Koiki owned 216,000 shares out of the 480,000 shares in the New Nigeria Salt Company Limited at the time of the seizure, representing approximately 46 per cent equity. The company was incorporated in 1973.

The court observed that although Mr Koiki lodged his complaint with the NHRC in 2010, the Commission failed or refused to conclude investigations or issue a report on the matter for several years.

According to the court, the complaint before it was not concerned with the substantive legality of the original seizure of the company or whether that issue was justiciable under Nigerian law, but rather whether the applicant’s right to a fair hearing within a reasonable time had been violated by the NHRC’s failure to conclude its process.

The Federal Government argued that the NHRC commenced preliminary investigations in 2014 but could not conclude the matter because the Commission’s Governing Council, which has the exclusive power to determine complaints, was dissolved in 2015 and was not reconstituted until 2021. The government also contended that the complaint was essentially a commercial dispute over equity interests and not a human rights issue.

However, the ECOWAS Court rejected these arguments, holding that it is the responsibility of a state party to the African Charter to organise its judicial and quasi-judicial institutions in a way that guarantees the effective enjoyment of the right to a fair hearing.

The court noted that for about six years, between 2015 and 2021, no action was taken on Mr Koiki’s complaint due to the dissolution and failure to reconstitute the NHRC Governing Council, an omission attributable solely to the Nigerian state.

It held that the prolonged inaction was unjustifiable and amounted to a violation of Mr Koiki’s right to a fair hearing within a reasonable time under Article 7(1)(d) of the African Charter.

Consequently, the court ordered the Federal Government to pay ₦5 million as general damages and to ensure that the NHRC promptly concludes the hearing and determination of Mr Koiki’s complaint.

The judgment reinforces the obligation of ECOWAS member states to ensure that human rights institutions operate effectively and without undue delay, particularly in matters affecting the rights of vulnerable and elderly citizens.