A Federal High Court has issued orders, including Mareva injunctions, to freeze assets and accounts linked to General Hydrocarbons Ltd, its subsidiaries and a leading media owner, Nduka Obaigbena, following allegations of unpaid $225.8 million loans owed two subsidiaries of FBN Holdings Plc.
Court documents on the suit containing the pleas of the two FBN Holdings Plc’s subsidiaries, namely First Bank Nigeria Limited and FBNQuest Trustees Limited, indicated that the loans, totalling $225,802,379.69 as of September 30, 2024 were issued by the plaintiffs to General Hydrocarbons Limited, an oil and gas company owned by Nduka Obaigbena, the publisher of This Day newspapers and founder of Arise Television.
General Hydrocarbons Limited is mentioned in the court documents as the operator of Oil Mining Lease (OML) 120, one of the oil blocks in Nigeria’s hydrocarbon resources industry.
Specifically, the Federal High Court granted the injunctions to prevent the oil company and its associated entities from transferring or dissipating theie assets while a law suit over their unpaid loans is being resolved at a law court.
The injunction restrained some of the leading financial institutions in Nigeria, namely Guaranty Trust Bank, Access Bank, Zenith Bank, First Bank of Nigeria, First City Monument Bank Plc, Globus Bank, Heritage Bank Limited, Jaiz Bank, among others and fintechs, including Flutterwave, Paystack, and Piggyvest from disbursing funds or dealing with any bank account associated with the defendants pending the hearing and determination of the Motion of Notice before the court.
The court injunction partly reads: “An order of Mareva injunction restraining all commercial banks in Nigeria, including Guraranty Trust Bank Limited, Access Bank Plc, Citibank Nigeria Limited, Carbon Bank, Ecobank Nigeria Plc, Fidelity Bank Plc, First Bank of Nigeria Limited, First City Monument Bank Plc, Flutterwave, Globus Bank, Heritage Bank Limited, Jaiz Bank, Keystone Bank Limited, Opay Digital Services Limited, PalmPay Limited, Paystack Payments Limited, Piggyvest, Momo Payment Services Bank Limited, Polaris Bank Limited, Providus Bank, Stanbic IBTC Bank Nigeria Limited, Standard Chartered Bank, Sterling Bank Plc, Sun Trust Bank Limited, Union Bank of Nigeria Plc, United Bank for Africa Plc, Unity Bank Plc, Wema Bank Plc, Zenith Bank Plc, and all other financial institutions operating in Nigeria, from releasing or dealing with any funds or assets due to GHL up to the sum of $225,802,379.99, being the outstanding indebtedness of the loan facilities granted GHL by First Bank pending the hearing and determination of the Motion on Notice for interlocutory injunction.”
In addition, the court also directed the banks to disclose the exact balances in the GHL and its affiliates’ accounts and provide certified statement of such accounts within seven days.
Similarly it ordered companies involved in OML 120 oil block operations to submit records of production and revenue since the company commenced operations, with proceeds directed to the plaintiffs’ account.
Apart from freezing the $225 million, the court also issued interim injunctions restraining the defendants from transferring or dissipating assets, including crude oil stocks, insurance policy covers, shares, and other receivables in order to ensure that the defendants do not deplete resources that may be used to settle the outstanding indebtedness to the plaintiffs.
In addition, the court restrained the Directors of GHL from disposing of their personal assets, whether moveable or immovable, within Nigeria.
