Court orders NNPC, Mobil to pay N82bn judgement debt to Akwa Ibom communities

Justice Taiwo Taiwo of the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, on Monday, granted a garnishee order absolute, mandating the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to release the sum of N81.9 billion standing to the credit of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), and its joint venture partner, Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited, in its custody to oil producing communities in Ibeno Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom state.

The Ibeno communities led by Obong Effiong Archianga and nine others had through their lawyer, Chief Lucius Nwosu (SAN) filed a suit against NNPC, Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited and ExxonMobil Corporation seeking about N100 billion compensation for economic losses suffered from oil spillages caused by the defendants during exploration.

The oil communities had gone to court to seek redress over oil spillage in the area, which they claimed had caused environmental degradation in their communities.

Consequently, in a judgement delivered on June 21, 2021, Justice Taiwo made an order, awarding a cost of N81.9 billion to the plaintiffs, who are now judgement creditors.

The court had ordered that the money must be paid within 14 days after which eight percent interest will be accruable on the principal sum annually.

On December 15, 2021, in a garnishee nisi proceedings, the apex bank had insisted that it had to get the consent of the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) before enforcing the garnishee judgement.

However, in a judgement on Monday, Justice Taiwo dismissed the claim of the apex bank and ordered it to release funds belonging to NNPC and Mobil to the tune of N82 billion to the judgement creditor.

The court said it was wrong for the CBN to say it has to get the consent of the AGF before attaching the judgment debt, insisting that, the apex bank is not a public officer.

“The January 6, 2022 application for an order of garnishee nisi is made absolute against the apex bank”, Justice Taiwo held.

Earlier, the court had dismissed an application challenging the service of garnishee order nisi on the judgement debtor.

Justice Taiwo noted that the coming into force of the Petroleum Industry Act had altered the name of the judgement debtor and added that the CEO, Directors, employees of NNPC are still those of NNPC Ltd.

According to the judge, the NNPC Ltd inherited assets and liabilities of the NNPC, noting that, the identity of the judgement debtor has been known, and the misnormer will be corrected, since it is a mistake of a name.

“Judgement debtor is juristic person, and the applicant has not suffered any injustice upon the mistake in the name of the applicant.

“Stance of applicant’s counsel is colourful and technical. The Court has power, suo moto to grant amendment of the name if mistakenly written.

“When a misnomer occurs, it does not vitiate the subject matter if the case. The objective of the court is to make findings and dispense justice and not to punish a litigant for a misnomer,” the court held.

The court added that the judgement creditor can enter claims “jointly and severally” against the judgement debtor.

“I find merit in the address of the judgment creditor, particularly paragraphs 4.14 to 4.18 of his address. The application of the judgement debtor dated 24th December, 2021 is hereby refused” the court held.

It would be recalled that Justice Taiwo had, in a judgment delivered in June last year, ordered the NNPC and its Joint venture partner, Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited, to within 14 days, pay an aggregate sum of N82billion to communities in Ibeno Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State.

The Judge also issued an order of mandamus mandating the NNPC, which was sued as the 1st Defendant in the matter, to discharge its duties by ensuring that its venture operators clean up, detoxify, and rehabilitate the land ecosystem, underground water, and air quality of the oil producing communities in Akwa Ibom State.

The Plaintiffs, in the Writ of Summons, told the court that there has been incessant crude oil bursts and spillages from facilities owned by Mobil and accused the oil giant of engaging in continuous gas flaring which they said emit huge carbon dioxide, dangerous monoxide and carbon particles.

They told the court that their communities are enveloped by very toxic contaminants and suspended solids that are constantly inhaled by livestock and humans alike.

Meanwhile, though both NNPC and Mobil applied for the suit to be dismissed for being incompetent and status barred, however, the court, in its judgement, said it was satisfied that the Plaintiffs made out a good case to warrant the grant of compensatory reliefs they sought in the matter.

Justice Taiwo held that both Mobil and NNPC were negligent in the way and manner they handled oil spills that caused environmental degradation in the communities.

The court held that the Defendants were unable to adduce any evidence to show that they either embarked on any clean-up exercise or compensated the communities.

It held that claims of the Plaintiffs were not disputed, noting that expert witnesses the oil company brought to testify before the court, tendered “very dubious documents” and further dismissed NNPC’s contention that the suit was statute barred as of 2012 when it was filed by the communities.

He held that claim by NNPC that the case ought to have been filed within 12 months after the alleged spillages occurred, lacked merit.

Consequently, it awarded the sum of N42.8bn to the Plaintiffs as damages for intangible losses, N21.9bn special damages as annotated and another N10bn as general damages.

The court however struck out the name of Exxon Mobil Corporation (5959 Las Conilas Boulevard Irving, Texas), which was listed as the 3rd Defendant on the premise that the Plaintiff did not establish any cause of action against it.

(Nigerian Tribune)