COURT CASES THREATEN N1TRN LOCAL FUNDS.

COURT CASES THREATEN N1TRN LOCAL FUNDS.

Over N1 trillion local content investments in Nigeria have remained in limbo, two years after they were conceived. These investments are being stalled by court cases, which began in 2013 on major oil assets’ transactions by two major international oil companies (IOCs) – Chevron and Total.

For Chevron, a case involving Brittania- U Nigeria Limited and Chevron/SEPLAT Petroleum and others over Chevron’s sale of Oil Mining Leases (OMLs) 52, 53 and 55 is before the Supreme Court, with investments of about $1 billion planned out over the sale of the oil block.

As for Total, a case between Total/Samsung’s and Lagos Deep Offshore Logistics (LADOL) is currently before a Judge, with the two at logger heads over a $3.8 billion Egina oil platform project.

The contract was awarded to Samsung Heavy Industry and LADOL by Total for the integration of a Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) platform otherwise known as Egina project to be cited at LADOL base in Lagos, but what followed was a litigation after LADOL alleged schemes by Samsung to exclude the indigenous firm from the job.

In the case before it, the Supreme Court had on Tuesday February 24^th, 2015, admonished all the parties, Brittania-U Nigeria Limited and Chevron/ SEPLAT Petroleum and others, to realize that the apex court is now fully in charge of the appeal. The presiding justice on the panel, who sat on the appeal, Justice Fabiyi, reminded counsel that it was their duties, being very senior members of the Bar, to advise their clients on the need to respect the authority of the court now that the appeal is ripe for hearing and not do anything that may overreach the case.

Meanwhile, with the ongoing case between Lagos Deep Offshore Logistics (LADOL) and Samsung/Total over a $3.8 billion Egina oil platform project, the plaintiff-LADOL, accused Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI), of breaching an earlier ruling by Justice Chukwu Jeku Aneke, of the Federal High Court, Ikoyi, Lagos, that parties maintain status quo pending the determination of the suite. Counsel to LADOL, Professor Fidelis Odita, had told the court that despite the court order of January 24^th, 2014, Samsung, had on February 27^th and 28^th , 2014, made presentations to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), of its plans to replace LADOL with another company as its third party local content partner for the project.

These court cases, no doubt, have effects on local contents investments and also have serious implications on the Federal Government’s known aspiration to get a boost for the N1 trillion local content investments in the country.