The Supreme Court has ordered the immediate handover of the crude oil aboard the FPSO Tamara Tokoni to General Hydrocarbons Limited (GHL), bringing an end to the legal dispute over the ownership and control of the asset.
In a unanimous judgment delivered on Friday by a five-member panel of justices, the apex court held that the suit instituted by First Bank of Nigeria (FBN) was purely contractual in nature and did not fall within the scope of admiralty jurisdiction.
The court ruled that both the Federal High Court and the Court of Appeal lacked the jurisdiction to entertain the matter. Consequently, it allowed the appeal filed by General Hydrocarbons Limited and set aside the judgment of the Court of Appeal, describing the lower court’s decision as perverse.
As part of its orders, the Supreme Court directed the Chief Registrar of the Court of Appeal and the Admiralty Marshal to immediately hand over the crude oil aboard the FPSO Tamara Tokoni to General Hydrocarbons Limited in compliance with its judgment.
Justice Abiru delivered the lead judgment on behalf of the five-member panel, which comprised Justices Uwani Aba-Aji, Salawa, Agim, Uwa, and Abiru. All members of the panel unanimously concurred with the decision.
The ruling effectively brings to a close the legal proceedings before Nigeria’s highest court over the disputed crude oil cargo aboard the FPSO Tamara Tokoni, affirming that the dispute was contractual rather than an admiralty matter and therefore outside the jurisdiction of the courts that initially heard the case.
