Court confirms firm’s locus standi to sue brewery

A Lagos High Court has ruled that Rotadet Hotel Limited, Ikorodu, Lagos has the locus standi to sue Guinness Nigeria Plc.

Justice L.A.M Folami held that the claimant’s claim is predicated on product liability and negligence.

He added that the incident occurred in the claimant’s hotel, while the product complained of was purchased from an accredited seller of the defendant’s products.

“I am satisfied that the claimant showed a nexus between it and the defendant. I am therefore of the considered view that the claimant showed it had locus standi to institute the present suit,” the judge held.

The claimant had sued the defendant, the brewer of Smirnoff Ice for N170 million alleging negligence in its production.

The action was taken to court after all efforts to resolve it at the Lagos Multi-Door Courthouse failed.

According to the case, on May 21, 2019, one of the claimant’s customers, Tommy Buks and Company Limited lodged in its facility.

On May 24, 2019, one of them, Mr Iyiola Adewole ordered a bottle of Smirnoff Ice, produced and sold by the defendant for consumption.

Surprisingly, he discovered that there was a fly in the bottle.

It added that the said customer was shocked and later informed the claimant that because of the incident, he would no longer be using the facility and thereby rescinded the contract with them.

The claimant claimed that the alleged negligence of the defendant in the manufacturing of the product resulted in theloss of over N70 million, adding that the presence of a fly in the bottle was clear evidence of negligence.

However, apart from challenging the right of the hotel to sue the defendant, which has now been dismissed, its company secretary/legal director, Rotimi Odusola is insisting that Guinness is a reputable company committed to producing high-quality and safe products.