The Court of Appeal in Lagos has disqualified Chief Wole Olanipekun SAN and Dr. Muiz Banire SAN from representing Nestoil Limited and Neconde Energy Limited in the company’s ongoing $2 billion debt dispute with its lenders.
The ruling was delivered on Friday, January 23, 2026, by a panel of justices of the Court of Appeal, according to the information made available to Nairametrics and also confirmed by the Nestoil legal team.
The decision marks a major turning point in the long-running receivership battle between Nestoil and a consortium of Nigerian banks and creditors, as the appellate court also struck out all legal processes filed by the affected law firms.
What the Court is saying
In its ruling, the Court of Appeal clarified the legal status of Nestoil’s board and its authority to engage counsel while under receivership.
- The Court held that once receivership proceedings commenced, the powers of the company’s board to take certain actions, including appointing legal representatives, were effectively suspended.
- Accordingly, the Court of Appeal granted the orders to disqualify and suspend Dr. Banire SAN and Chief Wole Olanipekun SAN’s legal representation of Nestoil Limited and Neconde Energy Limited respectively.
- The court further struck out all processes filed by the law firms of the two senior advocates on behalf of the companies.
Nestoil’s alleged $2 billion indebtedness to its lenders is said to exceed the minimum capital requirement of four Nigerian banks with international licences.
Backstory
The legal battle between Nestoil and its lenders has been brewing for months and cuts across multiple courts.
In November, Nestoil Limited dragged eight Nigerian banks and the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) before the Federal High Court in Abuja, seeking restraining orders to halt receivership proceedings initiated after a Notice of Default was issued against the company.
- At that hearing, legal teams representing Nestoil and the banks, including Access Bank, FBNQuest Merchant Bank Limited, and Afreximbank, appeared before Justice Mohammed Umar.
- The lenders argued that the receivership was lawfully triggered by Nestoil’s failure to meet its debt obligations, while Nestoil challenged the process and sought court protection.
- Nairametrics previously reported that armed officers of the Nigeria Police Force sealed Nestoil’s headquarters in Victoria Island, Lagos.
- The action followed a Federal High Court order freezing the company’s assets, bank accounts, and shares.
The freeze was linked to an alleged $1.01 billion and N430 billion debt owed to FBNQuest Merchant Bank Limited and First Trustees Limited, both subsidiaries of First Bank of Nigeria Limited.
What you should know
Meanwhile, on Thursday, the Court of Appeal in Lagos adjourned a receivership case involving FBNQuest Merchant Bank, First Trustees Limited, Nestoil Limited, Neconde Energy Limited, and two others due to controversy surrounding who could validly appear for the respondent companies.
Presiding judge, Justice Yargata Nimpara, adjourned the matter to January 15, 2026, holding that the question of legal representation for Nestoil and Neconde must first be resolved before the court could proceed to hear the case on its merits.
The latest ruling disqualifying senior advocates Olanipekun and Banire directly addresses that concern and clears the procedural hurdle identified by the court.
