Nigeria's Supreme Court frees oil vessel from seizure

Nigeria's Supreme Court has dismissed an order by the Court of Appeal to seize the FPSO Tamara Tokoni, a vessel carrying crude oil pledged as collateral by oil-servicing firm General Hydrocarbons. The Supreme Court's five-member panel ruled that the lawsuit initiated by First Bank was contractual, not an admiralty matter, and therefore the Federal High Court and Court of Appeal lacked jurisdiction.

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the lawsuit initiated by the lender is contractual and not an admiralty matter.

The Court of Appeal had previously ordered the sale of the crude oil aboard the vessel in September 2025, with proceeds to be deposited in an escrow account. This decision overturned an earlier ruling by the Federal High Court, which had dismissed First Bank's claims regarding the diversion of crude oil sale proceeds. The appellate court had emphasized the maritime nature of the dispute and the importance of preserving the crude oil cargo as the subject of litigation.

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the Federal High Court and the Court of Appeal lack jurisdiction to hear the suit, given that the litigation is an admiralty dispute.

The case stems from a $490 million loan First Bank provided in 2011 to Atlantic Energy Drilling Concepts, chaired by Jide Omokore, an associate of former Minister of Petroleum Diezani Alison-Madueke. The loan was intended to finance the firm's operations for drilling oil wells and fund its alliance with the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company. Atlantic Energy's assets were pledged as collateral, with First Bank holding a charge over collection accounts. The debt became a non-performing loan after Atlantic Energy defaulted on payments. First Bank's former CEO, Adesola Adeduntan, stated in 2019 that the exposure to Atlantic Energy, the bank's largest non-performing loan, was written off. The bank subsequently reduced its non-performing loan ratio. Oba Otudeko, then chairman of FBN Holdings, reportedly sought the help of Nduka Obaigbena, owner of General Hydrocarbons, to manage the situation. Obaigbena claimed that the NNPC under the late Maikanti Baru failed to sign security documents for the loan.

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In line with our commitment to address the legacy asset quality challenges, exposure to Atlantic Energy, our biggest NPL (non-performing loan), was written off in the second quarter.