Court Stops Jonathan From Assenting To Amended Oil & Gas Bill

Justice Saliu Saidu of the Federal High
Court in Lagos yesterday barred
President Goodluck Jonathan from
assenting to the bill for an Act to am


The judge further restrained the National
Assembly and the clerk of the National
Assembly from forwarding the bill for
an Act to Amend the Oil and Gas Export
Free Zone Authority Act. Cap. 05 to
President Jonathan for assent.
The court also stopped the defendants,
their agents and privies from
prohibiting the usage of the plaintiff’s
facilities located on Snake Island
Integrated Free Zone for Oil and Gas
cargoes destined for use in the free zone.
The court gave the order after listening
to a motion ex-parte filed before it by
Professor Olanrewaju Fagbohun on
behalf of Nigerdock Nigeria Plc, SIMCO
Free Zone Company and Nigerdock
Nigeria Plc-FZE, who are plaintiffs in the
suit.
The court order also affected the Clerk of
the National Assembly, the Attorney-
General of the Federation, Minister of
Industry, Trade and Investment, the
Honourable Minister of Transport, and
the Nigeria Ports Authority.
In an affidavit attached to the suit and
sworn to by Yusufu Abdullahi, a director
of SIMCO Free Zone Company, the
deponent averred that Nigerdock Nigeria
Limited is a promoter of Snake Island
Integrated Free Zone, SIIFZ, and that
SIMCO is a company saddled with the
responsibility to develop, market,
manage, operate and administer SIIFZ.
Abdullahi averred that SIIFZ was
approved as a privately owned and
managed Free Zone by a Presidential
declaration in January 2005, and that it
was duly licensed by the Nigeria Export
Processing Zones Authority (NEPZA) in
April 2005.
The deponent also claimed that SIIFZ is
operated by SIMCO Free Zone Company,
under the direct supervision and
monitoring of NEPZA. He added that
other regulatory agencies such as Nigeria
Ports Authority (NPA), Nigerian Customs
Service (NCS), the Nigeria Immigration
Service (NIS), the Nigeria Police Force
(NPF) and State Security Service (SSS) are
present within SIIFZ to ensure due
compliance with all laws and that
appropriate security is maintained.
Abdullahi also averred that at
privatisation, one of the representations
that the federal government as beneficial
owner made to the core investor who
purchased the federal government share
in the Nigerdock Nigeria Plc was that the
federal government shall take all
necessary steps to co-operate fully with
the purchaser to ensure that the
purchaser obtains all benefits under
Nigerian Law as a strategic Core investor
in the company.
He averred that in November 2014, the
plaintiffs became aware that a Bill for
An Act to Amend the Oil and Gas Export
Free Zone Authority Act, Cap. 05, Laws of
the Federation of Nigeria, had been
presented to the Senate of the national
Assembly. And that the plaintiffs were
not invited to the Public hearing that the
Senate of the national Assembly had in
respect of the bill.
He further stated that the plaintiffs,
however, submitted a petition to the
Senate when they became aware that a
public hearing had been conducted. He
added that the petition was aimed at
sensitizing the Senate on how the
amendment will negatively undermine
the plaintiffs and violate their
constitutional rights.
The deponent averred that Section 5(3)
of the bill seeks to expand the powers of
OGFZA such that it can without further
assurance take over and perform the
functions hitherto performed by NEPZA.
While Section 10 of the Bill further seeks
to confer the rights to handle oil and gas
cargoes only at approved oil and gas
concessioned ports, with freedom to
investors to choose ports of discharge of
their cargoes within designated terminal
at Onne, Warri and Calabar ports.
He stated that the Bill did not define
what constitute “oil and gas related
cargoes”. And that this will give room to
situations where cargoes intended for
SIIFZ are wrongly classified as oil and
gas relates cargoes.
The deponent further averred that, it is a
known fact that a total of twenty-four
ports were concessioned to private
investors, with 14 and 10 in the western
and eastern zones of Nigeria Ports
Authority respectively.
That only one of the ports
Concessionaires, Integrated Logistic
Services Limited, INTELS, operates in
Warri, Onne and Calabar ports. And that
the amendment proposed in Section 10
will confer a right of monopoly only in
INTELS, which he said, would be to the
detriment of other port Concessionaires
and free Zones.
He stated that there are indications that
the Senate has passed the Bill and is
seeking to hurriedly present same to
President Jonathan for assent. He added
that the hurried passage of the proposed
Bill is meant to foist a situation of fait
accompli on the incoming
administration at the Federal level, and
that unless the defendants are restrained
by the court, the defendants will confer
an undue advantage on ports being
proposed to be designated as oil and gas
Free Zone, and divert traffic from the
Free Zone and Port Development
operated by the plaintiffs with
devastating social and economic
consequence.
Justice Saliu Saidu has adjourned till
May 26, 2015, for hearing of originating
summon of the suit.