NNPC) Limited

President Muhammadu Buhari has filed a notice of preliminary objection challenging the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court to entertain the suit filed by ...

7, the president inaugurated the NNPC Board without recourse to me while another person was named in (my) place.” Another issue for determination was whether his purported removal vide letter of Jan. He was also in court on Thursday representing the Federal Government (Buhari) Ifeanyi Araraume on his alleged illegal removal as non-executive chairman of the Board of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL). He also asked the court for an order reinstating him and restoring him to office with all the rights and privileges of the office of the NNPC non-executive chairman. The plaintiff had asked the court to, upon determination of the issues in his favour, make a declaration that his position as non-executive chairman of the NNPC was exclusively governed and regulated by CAMA 2020, Petroleum Industry Act 2021 and Memorandum of Association of the Company. Araraume had also asked the court to determine whether by the interpretation of Section 63 (3) of the Petroleum Industry Act 2021, the president could lawfully remove him as non-executive chairman of the NNPC for any reason outside the provisions of the law. He further asked the court to determine whether the president could sack him without compliance with expressly stated provisions of the Articles of Memorandum of Association of the Company, Section 63 (3) of the PI Act 2021 and Section 288 of the CAMA Act 2020. One of the issues was whether in view of the provisions of the Memorandum and Articles of Association of the NNPC, Companies and Allied Matters Act 2010 and the Petroleum Industry Act 2021, the office of the non-executive chairman is not governed and regulated by the stated provisions of the law. They listed the grounds of preliminary objection to include the fact that the plaintiff (Araraume’s) action was statute-barred having regard of Section 2 (a)of the Public Officers Protection Act Cap P41 LFN 2004; the action constituted an abuse of court process being one that was not supported by law, having regard to the provisions of the Interpretation Act 2004; the Petroleum Industry Act 2021; the Companies and Allied Matters Act, 2020; and the Articles of Association of NNPCL The objection was raised by the legal team of President Buhari, who is the first defendant in the suit, in a notice of preliminary objection brought pursuant to Section 2(A) of the Public Officers Protection Act, 2004 and under the inherent jurisdiction of the Honourable Court as provided by Section 6 (6) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended). President Buhari predicated his objection on three grounds, to wit: that the removal of Araraume (the plaintiff/respondent in the suit) as the non-executive chairman of NNPCL (2nd defendant/respondent) was done in his capacity as a Public Officer by virtue of Section 251 (1) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended); that the suit was a statute barred action, which offended the provisions of Section 2(a) of the Public Officers Protection Act, 2004 with respect to his administrative acts or decisions made on January 17, 2022, being a period of about seven months prior to the filing of this suit on September 12, 2022; and on the grounds that the suit amounted to an abuse of court process, which ultimately deprived the court of the jurisdiction to entertain it.