Mkpoikana Udoma Port Harcourt — A Rivers State High Court sitting in Port Harcourt has issued an order restraining the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited, SPDC, from interfering with the Rivers State Government’s title, right and interest over fixed landed assets comprised in Kidney Island Base, Port Harcourt and interests in lands comprised in Oil Mining Lease, OML, 11.
The court, presided over by Justice Adolphus Enebeli, asserted that the Rivers State Government purchase of Kidney Island and OML 11, through public auction ordered by the court pursuant to a court judgement on 14 August, 2019, is absolute, irreversible and indivisible.
Justice Enebeli issued the order on Monday while delivering judgement in suit No. PHC/29/CS/2021 filed by SPDC, challenging the sealing off of Kidney Island, once the company’s operational base, by the Rivers State government.
The defendants in the suit are the Government of Rivers State; Attorney General of Rivers State, Deputy Sheriff of High Court of Rivers State and Registrar of the High Court of Rivers State.
Citing Section 47 of the Sheriffs and Civil Process Act, the judge said that at any time within 21 days from the date of the sale of any immovable property, application may be made to the court to set aside the sale on the ground of any material irregularity in the conduct of the sale.
Justice Enebeli ruled that if SPDC had noticed irregularities in the court judgement authorising the sale of its asserts, it was statutorily bound to challenge it within 21 days of the sale, but it did not.
The judge maintained that the law is explicit that once assets are sold through public auction ordered by the court pursuant to a court judgement, and the sale is not challenge within 21 days, the buyer’s claim to the property is absolute, irresistible and indivisible.
To buttress this, Justice Enebeli cited Section 48 of the Sheriffs and Civil Process Act, which states that if no such application as mentioned in section 47 of the Act is made, the sale shall be deemed absolute.
He ruled that the Government of Rivers State having purchased the assets and duly issued certificate of title without any contestation from SPDC within the stipulated 21 days, has every legal right to protect its property.
Justice Enebeli said though SPDC had claimed it had filed an appeal at the appellate court, the earlier court judgement authorising the sale of the company’s assets, which is yet to be set aside by any competent court, still subsists.
He observed that the suit brought by SPDC is an indirect attempt to catch a horse that had bolted off from its stable 512 days earlier.
The judge added that SPDC, in the suit brought before the court, did not also seek for an order setting aside the auction of the assets in question.
He, therefore, issued an order restraining SPDC from continuing to interfere with Rivers State Government’s title, right and interest over fixed landed assets comprised in Kidney Island Base, Port Harcourt and interests in lands comprised in OML 11.
Speaking to journalists outside the court, a lawyer to the Government of Rivers State, Chukwuemeka Eke, expressed delight over the judgement.
He said: “The property was actually sold to the Rivers State Government and Shell came back again and started to interfere with the right now acquired by the Rivers State Government.
“Today, we just finished from court and the court has confirmed that Shell not having challenged the sale of the property to the Rivers State Government cannot at this time seek to set it aside.
“And so, the court dismiss the entire claim of Shell and further granted an injunction restraining Shell from interfering with the right of Rivers State Government to the property at Kidney Island.
“The effect of today’s judgement is that property at Kidney Island still belongs to the Rivers State Government and Shell cannot interfere or remain there. The Rivers State Government is entitled to full possession and use of that property.”
Eze further stated that if there were irregularities at all in the sale, the law provides that the SPDC should have raised that within 21 days of that sale. However, Shell did not do so.
He added: “This is 512 days after the sale. It is too late in the day. The law is that once you do not challenge the sale within 21 days, the sale becomes absolute and what more, the court has before now issued Rivers State Government with certificate of title to the place.
“The effect of that is that it is irreversible. You cannot challenge the right of Rivers State Government at this time. It is too late. That is the position of the law.”
The Supreme Court had in November 2020 reaffirmed the Rivers State Government acquisition of SPDC interests in OML 11 and Kidney Island, when it dismissed the SPDC suit, which sought to set aside the judgment made against it in 2019 in favour of Ejama-Ebubu community.
It will be recalled that sometimes in 2017, the people of Ejama-Ebubu secured judgement against SPDC and its subsidiaries in the sum of N57.7 billion naira for the damages done to their environment arising from the oil spill from the Trans-Niger pipeline.
After that judgement, Shell refused to pay the judgement sum and the Ejama-Ebubu community later approached the court to seek the leave of the court to seize immovable properties of SPDC, and the court granted them that order.
There was a court order for the sale of some of the properties of SPDC, including Kidney Island and the acquisition of Shell’s interest in OML 11.
A public auction was held by the officers of the Rivers State Judiciary and the State Government bided successfully for the purchase of Kidney Island and Shell’s interest in OML 11.
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