Beware of Shell’s divestment plots – Ndarani, SAN warns
By Mohammed Baba Busu
Minna, Feb. 9, 2024 (NAN) A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Mohammed Ndarani, on Friday warned unsuspecting prospective business Moguls and organisations to be weary of Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC’s) plots to divest in the midst of litigations.
Ndarani, gave the warning in a telephone interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Minna on Friday.
The senior advocate explained: “This warning became imperative in view of the desperate moves by shell to circumvent an already subsisting Federal High Court ruling obtained by Ugbo-Ilaje community in Ondo State in a N3.1 trillion suit filled against it (Shell).
“This is the more reason why our law firm, Ndarani (SAN) & Co, had on Feb. 2 published the court proceedings and the ruling in different Newspapers including The Guardian.
“Therefore, anyone or organisation that goes ahead to buy any of the property of Shell should have himself or itself to blame, ” the SAN warned.
He pointed out that a Federal High Court sitting in Akure had stopped Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC) from any attempted divestment of its investments in Nigeria following a N3.1 trillion suit filled against it by Ugbo-Ilaje community in Ondo State.
According to him, Justice T. B. Adegoke, the presiding Judge, in his ruling on an exparte motion filled by the community,
restrained SPDC and four others from selling, allocating, vandalising and or disposing of any of their assets/properties including official structures, oil wells, oil fields, installations, vehicles, equipment, investments, offshore or onshore or any of its properties in any part of Nigeria.
NAN reports that justice Adegoke, had in his ruling last year, explained that the order became imperative in view of its exigency so that Shell would not divest and rendered the suit null and void or an exercise in fertility.
He had said that the order would subsist pending the determination of the suit filed against the respondents by indigenes of Ugbo-Ilaje, for which they secured a Mareva order against Shell.
The restraining order, however, followed an ex-parte motion filed and argued by Mohammed Ndarani (SAN) on behalf of the applicants – Prince Afolabi Akinruntan and 1,215 others in the Ugbo-Ilaje community in Ondo state.
The plaintiffs in suit numbered FHC/AK/CS/68/2023, had raised the alarm over the plan by Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC) to sell its Nigerian onshore oil subsidiary in the midst of litigation.
“The plaintiffs had suit Shell International Company Limited, Shell International Exploration and Production Limited, Attorney-General of the Federation and the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL) as 1st – 4th respondents.
They prayed the court to prevail on the Federal Government to reject the oil giant’s bid to sell off its assets until it complies with the order of the court.
The plaintiffs who are seeking for N3.1 trillion compensation enjoined the court to enforce their rights and to order the remediation of their environment allegedly damaged by the oil spillage of the first and second respondents’ ruptured pipelines.
The applicants claimed that “the exparte motion became imperative to stop Shell from divesting so as not to render the case nugatory/academic should the verdict go in their favour.
Nevertheless, the judge, who barred Shell from selling or divesting any of its assets in the country adjourned the case to Feb 29 for hearing. (NAN)
