By Lukman Olabiyi
Justice Oluremi Oguntoyinbo of the Federal High Court in Lagos, yesterday declined to vacate its interim Mareva injunction directing twenty banks to block Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC) and its subsidiaries’ bank accounts.
Justice Oguntoyinbo, who made the order, also summoned three of the banks’ secretaries and chief financial officers for allegedly disobeying the order made on January 25, 2021.
The affected banks and their officials include Citi Bank Ltd, its Company Secretary Sola Fagbure and Chief Financial Officer, Sharaf Mohammed; First Bank of Nigeria Ltd, its Company Secretary Irene Netimah and Chief Financial Officer, Patrick Iyamabo; United Bank For Africa (UBA) Plc, its Company Secretary, Bill Andrew Odum and Chief Financial Officer, Ebenezer Kolawole.
The court ordered the alleged contemnors to appear before it on the next adjourned date of March 29, 2021. Justice Oguntoyinbo warned that their failure to appear would result in a warrant of arrest being issued against them. The judge made the order in a ruling on three applications in a suit marked FHC/L/CS/52/2021, filed by Aiteo Eastern E&P Company Ltd against SPDC and four others. Aiteo is claiming about $2.7 billion against SPDC over alleged problems with the Nembe Creek Trunk Line (NCTL) pipeline it bought from the Anglo-Dutch group in 2015 and over claims that Shell undercounted its oil exports.