A Federal High Court in Abuja dismissed a lawsuit filed by Kaztec Engineering Ltd. on Friday, citing it as incompetent. This decision regarding oil mining licenses previously operated by ADDAX is significant and was obtained by the Federal Government and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd.
Judge N.E. Maha presided over the court that rendered the crucial decision, tossing out Kaztec Engineering Ltd.’s case contesting NNPC’s statutory concession for OMLs 123, 124, 126, and 137.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd., the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources, and others were sued by Kaztec Ltd. in an attempt to have the award of OMLs 123, 124, 126, and 137—which had been granted to NNPCL as early as 2002—reviewed as having been improperly made.
Get Instantly Update By: Joining Our Whatapps and Telegram Channel
The plaintiff’s inability to pay the signing bonus was the primary reason given by the court in its ruling that the plaintiff’s case lacked merit.
As this bonus was a prerequisite for the granting of OMLs 123, 124, 126, and 137, it determined that Kaztec’s lawsuit was legally frivolous.
According to information obtained by Guardian, the court also said that the plaintiff’s failure to include all required parties in the lawsuit was the reason it concluded that Kaztec Engineering Ltd.’s entire legal action amounted to an abuse of the legal system.
Justice Maha declared that Kaztec’s claim is hereby categorically thrown out for lack of competence.
Previously, Mr. Kehinde Ogunwumiju (SAN), the NNPCL’s attorney from Afe Babalola & Co., along with other defendants, had contested the court’s jurisdiction to decide the complaint.
The Defendants objected to the claim, arguing that it lacked a basis of action since Kaztec, which is purportedly owned by Sir Emeka Offor, failed to pay the OMLs’ statutory signature bonuses.