Davidson Iriekpen
The Supreme Court yesterday upheld the appeal filed by a Norwegian oil firm, Statoil Nigeria Limited (now Equinox Nigeria Limited), against the judgment of the Federal High Court in Lagos which ordered it to pay an indigenous company, Inducon Nigeria Limited and its promoter, Dr. John Abebe 1.5per cent net profit interest accruable to it from the three oil blocks allocated to them for bringing it to Nigeria to explore oil resources.
In a unanimous decision, the apex court agreed with Statoil that the Federal High Court did not have jurisdiction to hear the case in 2010.
The five-man panel of the court said Abebe and his company, Inducon, should have filed the case at the Lagos High Court which should have been the proper place to start the case, and not at the Federal High Court.