Nigeria’s Supreme Court has delivered a decisive ruling in favour of General Hydrocarbons Limited (GHL), ordering the immediate release of the crude oil cargo aboard the FPSO Tamara Tokoni.
In a judgment delivered on Friday, the apex court directed the Chief Registrar of the Court of Appeal and the Admiralty Marshal to hand over the crude on the floating production storage and offloading vessel to GHL without delay.
The five-member panel of the court also struck out the case filed by First Bank of Nigeria (FBN), ruling that the disagreement between both parties was purely contractual and could not be treated as an admiralty matter before the Federal High Court.
The Supreme Court unanimously held that the lower courts lacked the jurisdiction to entertain the dispute as an admiralty case, thereby siding with General Hydrocarbons in its appeal and overturning the earlier judgment of the Court of Appeal.
Members of the panel were Justices Uwani Musa Abba Aji, Adamu Jauro Salawa, Mohammed Lawal Garba Agim, Tijjani Abubakar and Habeeb Adewale Abiru, who delivered the lead judgment.
The court subsequently ordered that the crude oil aboard the FPSO Tamara Tokoni be released to General Hydrocarbons forthwith.
The ruling effectively reverses the Court of Appeal’s earlier position in the legal tussle between General Hydrocarbons and First Bank of Nigeria over ownership and control of the crude cargo stored aboard the FPSO vessel.
Further details are expected.
