Despite an ongoing legal battle and a subsisting court order restricting the importation and distribution of an HIV test kit, Abbott Diagnostics is set to proceed with a groundbreaking ceremony for a manufacturing project in Nigeria, a move that sources allege is aimed at sidestepping Acouns Nigeria Limited, the indigenous company that introduced the product to the Nigerian market over three decades ago.
Sources familiar with the dispute told SaharaReporters that the planned project has heightened tensions between the parties in the ongoing case before the Federal High Court in Lagos, where Acouns is challenging Abbott’s termination of a longstanding distribution agreement and its continued dealings involving the Determine HIV 1/2 Test Kit.
According to the sources, the manufacturing initiative is being pursued while legal proceedings remain unresolved and despite an interlocutory injunction obtained by Acouns.
“There is an interlocutory injunction and they are still selling the products. They are still making money from the products regardless of the interlocutory injunction,” one source alleged.
The source further claimed that the manufacturing project is part of a broader strategy to continue commercialising the product while avoiding the legal implications of the dispute.
“They are not supposed to sell it. They tried to modify the name and go into manufacturing,” the source said.
The latest controversy centres on a planned groundbreaking ceremony for a manufacturing facility linked to the product.
According to sources, Acouns Nigeria Limited, which claims to have built the Determine brand into a household name in Nigeria over the last 30 years, was neither informed nor invited to participate in the project.
“So, tomorrow, they said they want to do the groundbreaking of the product,” a source told SaharaReporters.
“And Acouns and Chief Adunni Udu who brought this product to Nigeria were not even informed or invited and Acouns made it the household name for 30 years in this country.”
The source described the development as a deliberate attempt to marginalise the company despite its historic role in establishing the product in Nigeria.
“That name was developed by Acouns and Adunni Udu and the long and short is they cannot sidetrack them. So, that’s the bottom line,” the source said.
Chief Mrs. Adunni Udu is the Chief Executive Officer of Acouns Nigeria Limited.
Alleged Attempt To Circumvent Court Proceedings
Sources privy to the matter have accused Abbott of attempting to continue exploiting the commercial value of the product through what it describes as a cosmetic rebranding and repackaging exercise.
“Having benefited substantially from the goodwill, market penetration, and commercial success generated through Acouns’ considerable efforts in promoting and establishing the product within the Nigerian market, Abbott has now embarked upon a calculated and improper scheme to continue exploiting the same product under the guise of a rebranding and repackaging exercise,” one of the sources said.
According to the source, the alleged rebranding does not alter the fundamental identity of the product and appears designed to avoid the consequences of ongoing litigation.
Findings by SaharaReporters revealed that the groundbreaking ceremony for the factory is scheduled to take place on Tuesday, June 9, 2026, at the Afrimedical Manufacturing and Supplies facility in Karameh Industrial City, along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Isheri 102109, Ogun State.
A reception will subsequently be held at the U.S. Consulate General, located at 2 Walter Carrington Crescent, Victoria Island, Lagos.
“The available facts reveal that the purported rebranding and repackaging constitute nothing more than a cosmetic alteration designed to preserve the essential identity, commercial character, and market recognition of the product while attempting to evade the legal consequences of the subsisting judgment of the Court delivered in favour of our company,” the source stated.
It was noted that any effort to market the same product under a modified identity would amount to an attempt to defeat the authority of the court.
“You cannot lawfully achieve indirectly what you have been expressly restrained from doing directly,” one of the sources stated.
“Any effort to reintroduce, market, distribute, promote, commercialize, or otherwise exploit the same product under a modified name, packaging, branding, or trade dress, where the substance and commercial identity of the product remain materially unchanged, constitutes a clear affront to the authority of the Court and an impermissible attempt to defeat the judgment obtained by our Client.”
Settlement Talks Allegedly Broke Down
Sources told SaharaReporters that there had been efforts to resolve the dispute out of court, including discussions around the proposed manufacturing project.
According to one source, Acouns insisted that any settlement must recognise its historical role in bringing Abbott’s products to Nigeria and include it in future manufacturing arrangements.
“They called Acouns and said they should settle out of court and one of the conditions Acouns gave them is that if they are going to settle out of court, Acouns brought them 30 years to Nigeria and has to be part of the arrangement of the manufacturing,” the source said.
“Professor Muhammad Ali Pate, Nigeria’s Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare is part of those who said it should do manufacturing. Pate and Enuma are trying to take over the company.”
However, the source alleged that internal opposition within Abbott contributed to the collapse of those discussions.
The source specifically accused an Abbott employee, Joseph Enuma, of working against Acouns’ interests.
Enuma is the company’s Country Manager, Rapid Diagnostics Infectious Disease Emerging Markets, Abuja, Nigeria.
“But one guy, Joseph Enuma, he wants to benefit,” the source alleged.
“So, he found every way to make sure that he’s on the side of the Lebanese.”
The source further claimed that Abbott had previously appointed a Lebanese executive to oversee its Nigerian operations but that the company’s headquarters in Chicago later intervened.
“Chicago did very well. They asked the Lebanese man to resign because what he did was wrong,” the source claimed.
“So, they asked him to resign and they started talking to Acouns.”
At the centre of the dispute is Acouns’ contention that it spent decades building the Determine HIV 1/2 Test Kit brand in Nigeria.
“The brand Determine has become a household name in Nigeria, largely through the efforts and achievements of Acouns Nigeria Ltd, which played a pioneering role in establishing Abbott Diagnostics within the Nigerian market,” a source familiar with the matter stated.
“It is important to recall that for over three decades (30 years), competitors such as JNCL and ISN were absent from this foundational work, while Acouns functioned as a key indigenous pathfinder in building market acceptance and distribution networks.”
Another source familiar with the matter echoed the claim.
“Adunni Udu brought this company to Nigeria 30 years ago,” the source said. “This product was nothing until Acouns developed it and turned it into a household name in Nigeria.”
Background Of The Court Case
The dispute is the subject of a lawsuit marked FHC/L/CS/1528/2023 before the Federal High Court in Lagos.
Acouns Nigeria Limited is suing Abbott Diagnostics and related entities over the termination of a distribution agreement that allegedly granted it exclusive rights to import, distribute, advertise and promote the Determine HIV 1/2 Test Kit in Nigeria.
The company also claims that it obtained NAFDAC registration for the product under a Power of Attorney granted by Abbott.
According to court filings, Acouns accused Abbott of unlawfully terminating the agreement in 2023 and continuing to utilise the NAFDAC registration without compensation.
The company is seeking damages estimated at $186 million.
In August 2023, Justice Akintayo Aluko granted an ex parte order restraining Abbott and its affiliates from importing or distributing the HIV test kit pending the determination of the suit.
The matter remains before the court and has been adjourned until October 2026.
Court proceedings in the case between Acouns Nigeria Limited and Abbott-related entities resumed at the Federal High Court, Ikoyi, on June 3, 2026, before Justice Owoeye for a report on settlement discussions.
Counsel for Acouns informed the court that both parties had held settlement talks as recently as May 22, 2026, but alleged that the defendants were continuing to sell the Determine HIV test kits using Acouns’ NAFDAC registration number despite a subsisting court order issued on July 16, 2024.
According to Acouns, the defendants appeared to be engaging in settlement negotiations while simultaneously violating the court’s orders.
Although settlement efforts remain ongoing, Acouns urged the court to give the parties one final opportunity to reach an agreement, failing which it would proceed with its substantive claims.
Counsel for the defendants did not oppose an adjournment, and the court subsequently adjourned the matter until October 5, 2026, for a further report on settlement and/or the hearing of pending applications.
When SaharaReporters contacted Enuma, Country Manager, Rapid Diagnostics, Infectious Disease Emerging Markets, Abuja, Nigeria, he said he was not the appropriate person to respond to the allegations.
“Unfortunately, I’m not going to be the right person to answer your call. Our Public Relations Officer will be the right person,” he said.
When asked for the contact information of the Public Relations Officer, he responded, “Let me see how I can lay my hands on the number.”
At the time of filing this report, the Public Relations Officer’s contact information had not been sent, as promised by Enuma.
Efforts by SaharaReporters to reach David Bond, Regional Finance Director and Controller, Infectious Diseases EMEA Commercial, for comment were unsuccessful, as he neither answered phone calls nor responded to messages sent to him.
(SaharaReporters)