A Federal High Court in Lagos, presided over by Justice Dehinde Dipeolu, has vacated an ex parte Mareva injunction that had frozen the assets of General Hydrocarbons Limited, a Nigerian oil and gas services company, over a contested $225.8 million loan dispute.
Justice Dipeolu ruled on Wednesday that the injunction was in conflict with an existing order from a court of the same jurisdiction.
The judge stated that when juxtaposed with an earlier ruling by Justice Ambrose Lewis-Allagoa in Suit No. 1953, the Mareva order was untenable and should be set aside.
The court further determined that First Bank of Nigeria had not fully disclosed the existence of Justice Lewis-Allagoa’s ruling, making the freeze order inconsistent with the prior directive.
The dispute originated from an ex-parte order issued by Justice Dipeolu on December 30, 2024, in Suit No. FHC/L/CS/2378/2024. That order had directed all commercial banks to restrict access to the funds and assets of General Hydrocarbons Limited, its subsidiaries, and associated entities up to the amount claimed by the plaintiffs.
Additionally, the court had barred three directors of the company—Nduka Obaigbena, Efe Damilola Obaigbena, and Olabisi Eka Obaigbena—from transferring or dissipating any assets within Nigeria, whether movable or immovable, pending a decision on the Motion on Notice for an interlocutory injunction.
The case also involved several other respondents, including GHL 121 Ltd, Aimonte Nigeria Limited, Calidin Global Resources Limited, CESL Oyo Production BBC Limited (owners of FPSO Tamara Tokoni), CESL Oyo Production O&M Limited, and VITOL SA. Others named in the suit included Mercuria Energy Trading SA, Trafigura PTE Limited, Glencore Energy UK Limited, Schlumberger Nigeria Limited, Schlumberger Overseas SA, and Baker Hughes Oilfield Services.
On January 17, 2025, First Bank of Nigeria Limited urged the court to maintain the freezing order on GHL’s assets, arguing that the company was attempting to evade repayment of the $225.8 million loan.
The bank, through its lawyer Victor Ogude, had secured the Mareva injunction on December 30, 2024, as part of its recovery efforts.
However, GHL’s lawyer, Abiodun Layonu, countered that the order was obtained through misrepresentation, constituting an abuse of judicial process.
Layonu contended that First Bank failed to reveal Justice Lewis-Allagoa’s earlier ruling, which had restrained the bank from pursuing loan recovery actions until the dispute was resolved through arbitration.
Arguing for the injunction to be lifted, Layonu stated that the court had been misled in granting the freeze order and that it had inflicted severe financial distress on GHL.
