Sam Jonah files petitions over unlawful takeover of his Nigerian businesses

Ghanaian business mogul Sir Sam Jonah has petitioned Ghana’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, and Nigeria’s Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr Jumoke Odewole, over what he described as the unlawful takeover of two of his businesses in Nigeria.

In the petitions, which have been cited by GhanaWeb Business, Sam Jonah accused the Registrar-General of Nigeria’s Corporate Affairs Commission, Hussaini Ishaq Magaji, of being responsible for the unlawful takeover of the two companies — JonahCapital Nigeria Ltd and Houses for Africa Nigeria Ltd.

He claimed that Magaji expropriated some of his shares in the companies, removed their directors and invalidated their corporate filings.

“Further to our letters of 15 October 2025 and 13 November 2025, I write to formally lodge this complaint against the Registrar-General of the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), Mr Hussaini Ishaq Magaji — a Senior Advocate of Nigeria — regarding the expropriation of my shares, removal of the current directors and retrospective invalidation of corporate filings in JonahCapital Nigeria Ltd and Houses for Africa Nigeria Ltd.

“By this action, Mr Hussaini Ishaq Magaji, SAN (RG), reverted the status of the companies back to incorporation, which is 2006 in the case of JonahCapital and 2007 in the case of Houses for Africa Nigeria Ltd,” he wrote in the petition to Nigeria’s trade minister.

He said the Registrar-General took these actions despite a court injunction barring him from doing so.

“Honourable Minister, from the beginning of the ownership dispute, only three (3) filings were in contention, and these disputed filings are the subject of litigation before the Federal High Court, and the Registrar-General was duly served with the originating processes and motion for interlocutory injunction weeks before the administrative actions complained of were taken,” he said.

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He went on to list eight reasons why the actions of Magaji cannot stand, as follows:

Mr Magaji's action is likely to have far-reaching implications for my investment in River Park Estate by altering the corporate records and destabilising the ownership and management structure of the company, causing potential economic losses of an unprecedented scale.

Mr Magaji's unilateral cancellation is likely to adversely affect the company's banking relationships, thereby significantly destabilising the company's operations.

In the pending civil matters where our legal representatives have instituted suits on behalf of the company against the adverse party claiming ownership of River Park Estate, my companies may now be incapable of defending themselves due to the Registrar-General's actions. The consequence is that the adverse party already defending claims may now be artificially positioned as both plaintiff and defendant.

Mr Magaji's action has, by implication, granted administrative victory to one side of a dispute that is already before the court.

The Corporate Affairs Commission had, in 2023, expressly directed all companies with foreign participation to increase their share capital to ₦100 million, which we promptly complied with to avoid penalties and regulatory sanctions.

By cancelling filings dating back almost two (2) decades, the companies have now been placed in automatic default of the CAC's own requirement, as the share capital of the companies is now one million shares, thereby exposing us to penalties and operational disruption.

These abrupt cancellations will also affect our ability to manage ongoing projects as well as protect our land, subscribers and other assets.

It also exposes our staff (local and foreign) to the risk of wrongful termination by the individuals whom Mr Magaji has now purportedly installed as the management of the companies.

He, therefore, asked Nigeria’s trade minister to order the Registrar-General to reverse his decision.

In the petition to Ghana’s foreign minister, Sir Sam Jonah requested that Okudzeto Ablakwa engage Nigeria’s Attorney-General to review the police report on which the Registrar-General relied to take action against his companies.

He also implored the foreign minister “to, in the course of these engagements, demand the immediate reversal of the unlawful alterations to preserve our assets from being dissipated while the cases in court are being determined” and to “alert ECOWAS of the breach of regional investment protections”.

Similar petitions were filed by the managing director of the companies, Kojo Ansah Mensah, at Nigeria’s House of Representatives and its Independent Corrupt Practices Commission.

Read the petitions below:

BAI/MA

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