Supreme Court on Friday handed General Hydrocarbons Limited (GHL) a major legal victory after dismissing a suit filed by First Bank of Nigeria over the crude oil aboard the FPSO Tamara Tokoni.
In a unanimous judgment, a five-member panel of the apex court held that the dispute was contractual in nature and did not qualify as an admiralty matter, ruling that the Federal High Court lacked jurisdiction to entertain the case.
The court consequently allowed GHL’s appeal, set aside the judgment of the Court of Appeal, and ordered the immediate release of the crude oil aboard the floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel to the company.
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The justices also directed the Chief Registrar of the Court of Appeal and the Admiralty Marshal to hand over the crude cargo to General Hydrocarbons without further delay.
The panel, comprising Justices Uwani Aji, Adamu Jauro, Mohammed Agim, Tijjani Abubakar and Habeeb Abiru, unanimously ruled that the lower courts wrongly assumed jurisdiction over the dispute by treating it as an admiralty case.
The decision effectively overturns the Court of Appeal’s earlier ruling in the legal battle between General Hydrocarbons and First Bank of Nigeria over ownership and control of the crude cargo aboard the FPSO Tamara Tokoni.
The judgment is expected to bring an end to the protracted litigation and pave the way for the immediate transfer of the crude oil to General Hydrocarbons in line with the Supreme Court’s directive.
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