COURT DISMISSES PETROCAM’S BID TO CHANGE N9.05BN SECURITY ORDER

The Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has dismissed an application by Petrocam Trading Nigeria Limited and other defendants seeking to change an earlier court order requiring them to provide a bank guarantee or bond as security for a disputed N9.05 billion claim.

Justice Akintayo Aluko held that the application amounted to an abuse of court process because it was an indirect attempt to overturn an earlier ruling already made after hearing all parties.

The dispute began after the claimant sought to preserve funds allegedly owed to it by Petrocam and the other defendants.

On March 30, 2026, the court granted an interim injunction restricting dealings with the defendants’ bank accounts up to the value of the claimant's alleged N9.05 billion claim.

The defendants later challenged the order, but in a ruling delivered on May 4, the court refused to discharge the injunction.

However, the court modified the order by allowing the defendants to secure the disputed amount with a bank guarantee or bond worth N9.51 billion.

The defendants subsequently returned to court seeking more time to comply with the order and asking the court to replace the bank guarantee or bond requirement with another form of undertaking.

Justice Aluko rejected the request, holding that the earlier ruling had been made after both parties were heard and could no longer be treated as an ex parte order that could easily be varied under the provisions relied upon by the defendants.

The court also held that the defendants' counterclaim was not sufficient grounds to discharge or vary the injunction, stressing that the order was intended to preserve the disputed funds pending the determination of the substantive case.

Justice Aluko further noted that the defendants had already appealed the May 4 ruling and could not simultaneously ask the trial court to reconsider the same decision through a fresh application.

The court consequently declared the application incompetent and an abuse of court process and dismissed it.