Shell Petroleum Development Company Nigeria Limited has adopted its counter-affidavit in a suit filed by 1,216 plaintiffs who allege that the company caused the spillage of an uncontrollable volume of spilt crude oil into their communities.
The legal teams for Prince Afolabi Akinruntan & 1,215 Others and Shell Petroleum countered each other before Justice Obiora Egwatu of the Federal High Court, Abuja, who eventually fixed judgment for May 4, 2026.
Shell Petroleum, in its counter-affidavit exclusively seen by Nairametrics, maintains that at all material times leading to the filing of the plaintiffs’ suit, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) is the holder of Oil Mining Lease 118 (OML 118), comprising the Bonga FPSO.
The company added that Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company Limited (SNEPCo) operates the Bonga Field as a contractor party under the OML 118 Production Sharing Contract (PSC) between NNPCL and SNEPCo.
What they are saying
- At the resumed hearing last Friday, the legal team for the 1,216 plaintiffs accused Shell of disobeying a Mareva injunction against divestment, alleging that the company went ahead to sell off all its assets, thereby running away from Nigeria to evade oil spillage penalties.
- The plaintiffs urged the court to enter judgment in their favour.
- On his part, Shell Petroleum’s lawyer, Babatunde Ige, adopted his counter-affidavit and preliminary objection against the plaintiffs’ claims.
- In the counter-affidavit, it was alleged that Shell Petroleum (1st Defendant) does not have any operations or assets in Ondo State from which any activity or damage could have affected the plaintiffs’ communities or properties, as alleged.
The affidavit, however, confirmed that:
- “The 1st Defendant is a going concern carrying on business in Nigeria with a balance sheet size of N3,208,926,000,000.00, as the operator of the SPDC Joint Venture between itself, NNPCL, TotalEnergies EP Nigeria Limited, and Nigerian Agip Oil Company Limited, with subsisting interests in the 18 Oil Mining Leases held by the SPDC Joint Venture parties.”
The affidavit further maintained that the shareholder of Shell Petroleum agreed to sell all of its shares, noting that the relevant transaction is a share sale, not an asset sale.
Ige also argued that at the Akure Division of the court, where the plaintiffs initially commenced the case, the court adjourned proceedings indefinitely pending the outcome of appeals on the matter.
He urged the court to dismiss the application as a gross abuse of court process, given the pendency of appeals involving the parties and the plaintiffs’ alleged lack of the legal right to bring the application.
After hearing the parties, Justice Egwatu fixed May 4 for judgment.
What you should know
Shell and its subsidiaries are facing several pending litigations over their operations in Nigeria, with a number of them currently proceeding on appeal.
- Nairametrics previously reported that Justice Mohammed Umar of the Federal High Court, Abuja, ruled that he would avoid colliding with the outcome of a pending Supreme Court judgment on the long-running Gas Processing Agreement (GPA) dispute between Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC) and Global Gas and Refining Limited.
- Umar subsequently adjourned the case indefinitely pending the Supreme Court’s judgment.
- The development came weeks after the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), a respondent in the case, declined to take sides in the dispute and instead asked the court to exercise its discretion in the Gas Processing Agreement case.
