In a legal challenge against the recent appointments made by President Bola Tinubu for the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), former Senator Ifeanyi Ararume has called for the reversal of the newly constituted board and management team. Ararume argues that the appointments violate a court order obtained in April of this year.
The former senator, who had been appointed as the board chairman of NNPCL in September 2021, faced an abrupt removal just before the board’s inauguration in January 2022 by then-President Muhammadu Buhari. Ararume subsequently filed a lawsuit against Buhari and NNPCL at the Federal High Court in Abuja on September 12, 2022, challenging his removal.
In a statement dated November 30, Ararume’s lawyer, Ogwu Onoja, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), warned the public against engaging with the newly appointed board led by Akinyelure. Onoja emphasized that the November 27 appointment of the NNPCL management team constitutes a “flagrant disobedience of court order and brazen disregard” of the Federal High Court’s judgment dated April 18, 2023.
The court had restrained the president from removing Ararume’s name as a Non-Executive Director of NNPC Ltd from the Corporate Affairs Commission, and Onoja asserted that this judgment remains valid and in effect.
Expressing shock at President Tinubu’s actions, Onoja accused him of overruling the courts and usurping the jurisdiction of the Court of Appeal, where the President has filed an appeal pending resolution. He declared the recent appointments as “illegal, wrongful, null and void, and of no legal consequence.”
In a public warning, Onoja urged individuals to avoid any dealings with the new board and management of NNPC Ltd, stating that doing so would be at their own peril. He called on President Tinubu to respect the rule of law, emphasizing its role in attracting foreign direct investment (FDI), which the President has actively promoted worldwide.
