• Face-off may rise gas flaring
A RENEWED attempt to resolve the lingering dispute between the Nigeria Liquefied and Natural Gas (NLNG) Limited and the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) Thursday failed as lawyers on both sides proceeded with their arguments before the Federal High Court in Lagos.
The court subsequently fixed today for ruling on all pending applications.
In a related development, there are strong indications that more gas may be flared if urgent actions are not taken to resolve the lingering dispute between NLNG and NIMASA.
When the case came up again, NIMASA's counsel, Mike Igbokwe (SAN) told Justice Mohammed Idris that his client had informed him of the intervention of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Anyim Pius Anyim on the dispute.
"My Lord, I need to seek clarification as to the status of this case. I was reliably informed by my client that at about 12 midnight on Tuesday, there was a meeting between the SGF, NIMASA's Managing Director(MD) and Shell's MD, who is also a board member of NLNG.
"The NLNG's MD was linked to the meeting via teleconference and after discussion, it was agreed that they (NLNG) should get their lawyer to vacate the interim order and proceed to pay the money they are owing.
"I need to know if I'm on the same page with NLNG's lawyer on this, otherwise I will proceed with my motions which are ripe for hearing," Igbokwe stated.
But NLNG's counsel, Wale Akoni (SAN) claimed ignorance of the meeting, insisting that the instruction from his client was to the effect that he should proceed with the court case.
"I must say I'm taken aback by this practice. I don't have any instruction to vacate the order.
"The instruction I have is to move an application seeking to vary the order and I must say that we only agreed to pay under protest so that our vessels can be released," Akoni said.
In response, Igbokwe said Akoni's comments only show that they were not on the same page and expressed his willingness to move his motions.
He also stressed that the motion to vary the ex-parte order which Akoni mentioned, had not been served on him.
Consequently, Igbokwe moved two separate motions seeking to discharge the ex-parte order, and an order setting aside service of the order, as well as an order setting aside the commencement of contempt proceedings against NIMASA.
Arguing the motions, Igbokwe contended that it was improper for the court to make order against NIMASA, which was deliberately left out of proceedings.
"The order was made, with respect, without jurisdiction, and it is a nullity. This case is purely an abuse of court process because on June 18, 2013, NLNG served NIMASA with pre-action notice, which ordinarily expires by July 18.
"Instead of waiting for the 30 days to elapse according to the provision of Section 53 (3) of NIMASA Act, NLNG rushed to court to procure order against NIMASA on June 18, without even joining us as a defendant.
"This is purely an abuse of court process as fair hearing was not followed in accordance with Section 36 of the Constitution, Igbokwe said.
He also faulted the commencement of contempt proceedings, saying the due process required by law was not followed by NLNG.
Also, counsel to the Attorney General of the Federation, Fabian Ajogwu (SAN) moved an application urging the court to strike out the suit for being incurably defective.
In response, Akoni insisted that the case was properly instituted, that it was essentially against the Federal Government.
"Our story is simple, the Federal Government entered into an agreement with some individuals sometime ago and that agreement later transformed into the NLNG Act.
"Thereafter, the government formed NIMASA which is responsible to it," Akoni argued, urging the court to dismiss the objections of NIMASA and AGF.
Justice Idris had on June 18 granted an ex-parte order restraining the defendants from charging, imposing, demanding or collecting the three percent of gross freight earnings or any other sums further to Section 15(a) of NIMASA Act 2007 on all of NLNG's international inbound or outbound cargo ships owned, contracted or subcontracted by it.
Reliable sources in the oil sector confirmed to The Guardian yesterday, that the feud , which has halted NLNG gas lifting and berthing for weeks, has drastically reduced gas supply from the oil wells and therefore left oil firms with the options of either shutting the wells, or flaring up some of the gas gotten through crude production process.
Gas flaring is contrary to the Federal Government's zero-gas flare policy , but a source in one of the multinationals said a policy could only be realistic, if the products are utilized.
"The case we have at hand now is difficult, because the NLNG is a major supplier of Nigerian gas. So, it means we are left with the option of either to increase the flare or shut the well. We know it is temporary, but urgent measures should be taken to setter the matter, so as to save the nation from huge revenue loss and further degradation of the environment," the source said.
The Guardian