In a significant legal victory for General Hydrocarbons Limited (GHL), the Federal High Court in Lagos has overturned a Mareva injunction that had frozen the company’s assets and those of its directors. The court ruled in favor of GHL’s counsel, Abiodun Layonu, SAN, stating that the injunction conflicted with an existing order from a court of concurrent jurisdiction.
Delivering the ruling, Justice Dehinde Dipeolu noted that the injunction was inconsistent with an earlier order issued by Justice Ambrose Lewis-Allagoa in Suit No. 1953. The court found that First Bank of Nigeria and FBNQuest Ltd, who had obtained the injunction, failed to fully disclose Justice Lewis-Allagoa’s ruling, thereby misleading the court. As a result, the court agreed with GHL’s argument that First Bank had deliberately “suppressed facts” to secure the order, leading to its reversal.
First Bank had initially sought the freezing order through an ex parte application against GHL.