Lagos court sets aside order freezing Global Hydrocarbons assets

The Federal Excessive Court docket in Lagos has reversed an order of Mareva injunction obtained by First Financial institution freezing the property of International Hydrocarbons, an oil & gasoline agency, and people of its administrators as much as the sum of $225.8 million.

Justice Deinde Dipeolu dominated that the injunction contravened an current order from a court docket of concurrent jurisdiction. He famous that, in contrast with an earlier order granted by Justice Ambrose Lewis-Allagoa in Go well with No 1953, the order in query must be put aside.

First Financial institution and FBN Quest Trustees didn’t utterly disclose on the level of searching for the order the earlier order issued by Justice Lewis-Allagoa, making the Mareva injunction to be in battle with the earlier ruling, the court docket mentioned.

The lender and FBN Quest Trustees had on 27 December 2024 approached the court docket with an ex-parte utility to hunt the order in respect of a complete declare of $225.8 million being alleged excellent indebtedness on Basic Hydrocarbons’ account with First Financial institution as of 30 September 2024.

The court docket had granted the order restraining all industrial banks in Nigeria from releasing or dealing in all monies and property as much as $225.8 million on account of Nduka Obaigbena from any account maintained by him.

Mr Obaigbena, who owns International Hydrocarbons, is the Chairperson and editor-in-chief of THISDAY Media Group and Come up Information Channel.

The court docket additionally blocked all industrial banks from releasing or dealing in all monies and property as much as the mentioned quantity belonging to Efe Damilola Obaigbena, Olabisi Eka Obaigbena and Basic Hydrocarbons Restricted during which all three are administrators and shareholders.

One other order barring the banks from dealing in or releasing such monies and property as a result of firm, its brokers, privies, subsidiaries and sister corporations with the banks as much as the identical sum was issued.

In response, International Hydrocarbons and a number of the defendants requested the court docket to cancel the order, asserting that the court docket was misled in granting it within the first place.

The vitality agency claimed First Financial institution and FBN Quest Restricted secured the order by means of fraudulent misrepresentation and concealment of fabric information.

In his ruling, Justice Dipeolu agreed with International Hydrocarbons and the 2nd to fifth defendants that the financial institution deliberately “suppressed information” to mislead the court docket into issuing the order.

In view of the information, the court docket said that it needed to put aside the freezing order blocking the accounts of the corporate and people of different defendants.

READ ALSO: Obaigbena’s Basic Hydrocarbons sheds extra mild on battle with First Financial institution

The decide accepted the arguments of the defendants’ legal professionals, Abiodun Laniyonu (SAN) and Olumide Aju (SAN).

In a associated growth, International Hydrocarbons administrators, who’re among the many defendants within the case, have initiated authorized proceedings in opposition to First Financial institution demanding $1 billion every in damages for defamation and the wrongful freezing of their accounts.

International Hydrocarbons can be launching a case within the Authorized Practitioners Privileges Committee in opposition to First Financial institution legal professionals, Babajide Koku (SAN) and Victor Ogude (SAN) for “unprofessional conduct.”