A Lagos State High Court sitting in Tapa has directed the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to withdraw and discontinue the publication of notices declaring two directors of DKK Partners Limited wanted over a contractual dispute.
According to The Punch, the interim orders were issued by Justice Rosul Olukolu in Suit No. LD/11047GCM/2026, instituted by DKK Partners Limited against Yellow Card Financial Inc., Yellow Card Financial Nigeria Limited, and the EFCC.
The court specifically ordered the anti-graft agency to remove and stop circulating any notices, posters, or announcements identifying Ogadima Dominic Duru and Khalidur Rahman Mohammad Talukder, both directors of DKK Partners Limited, as wanted persons in connection with the dispute.
Justice Olukolu also restrained Yellow Card Financial Inc. and Yellow Card Financial Nigeria Limited from using any law enforcement agency to recover the disputed contractual sum or enforce obligations arising from the trading agreements between the parties.
In addition, the judge barred the EFCC from taking any further enforcement or coercive action relating to the matter until the claimant’s motion on notice is heard and determined.
To preserve the subject of the dispute, the court ordered DKK Partners Limited to deposit the disputed sum of $80,000 into an interest-yielding account pending the determination of the motion on notice.
Counsel to the claimant, Olamide Balogun, informed the court that DKK Partners Limited voluntarily requested permission to deposit the money as evidence of its good faith and willingness to honour its contractual obligations.
He argued that the dispute should be resolved through the civil dispute resolution process agreed by the parties rather than through the deployment of criminal investigative powers.
In the substantive suit, DKK Partners Limited maintained that the trading contracts were entered into between the company, incorporated in England and Wales, and Yellow Card Financial Inc., a company incorporated in the United States.
According to the claimant, “the parties never envisaged that disputes arising from their private commercial agreements would be referred to Nigerian law enforcement agencies as a means of exerting commercial pressure or recovering an alleged contractual debt, having expressly agreed on the governing law, jurisdiction, and dispute resolution mechanisms applicable to their relationship.”
The claimant is asking the court to declare that Nigerian law enforcement agencies cannot lawfully be used as debt recovery agents or contractual enforcement mechanisms in disputes arising from private commercial agreements.
It is also seeking orders directing the withdrawal of all petitions and related publications, perpetual injunctions preventing further recourse to criminal proceedings over the dispute, a corrective publication, N500 million in general damages for alleged reputational and commercial losses, as well as other consequential reliefs.
Following the interim rulings, Justice Olukolu adjourned the case until September 29, 2026, for a report of service and further proceedings.
