FG Loses $114.8m Suits Against Agip, Brasoil Over Undeclared crude
The Federal High Court in Lagos on Wednesday dismissed the suits filed by the Federal Government to recover the sums of $110m and $4.8m from Nigeria Agip Oil Company Limited and Brasoil, respectively.
Justice Mojisola Olatoregun dismissed the suits for lack of sufficient evidence.
The Federal Government had accused Agip of short-changing it by under-declaring the volume of crude oil it shipped out of the country between January 2011 and December 2014.
It said the undeclared crude was valued at $55m.
Apart from urging the court to compel Agip to pay the $55m with an annual interest of 21 per cent, the Federal Government also prayed that the court should award another $55m against the oil firm as exemplary damages.
But while delivering judgment in the suit, which was filed in 2016, Justice Olatoregun held that the evidence brought before the court by the government was insufficient to prove the case.
The judge, who described the suit as a fact-based case, said government would need “a preponderance of evidence” to establish the allegations.
“The plaintiff failed to make out a case that 500,000 barrels of crude oil was offloaded in Pennsylvania; the case of the plaintiff fails on the lack of proof on the preponderance of evidence.
“At this stage, I do not find it necessary to proceed with the evaluation of the other reliefs.
“I, therefore, proceed to make an order dismissing this suit. It is hereby dismissed,” the judge held.
On similar grounds, the judge dismissed the Federal Government’s $4.8m suit against Brasoil.
However, not pleased with the judgments, the Federal Government has gone on appeal.
Meanwhile, similar suits by government are pending before the same judge against Total E&P Nigeria Plc and Chevron Nigeria Limited by the Federal Government.
In the case of Total, FG sought to recover $245,258,640, “being the total value of the missing revenues from the shortfall under-declared/undeclared crude oil shipments of the Federal Government of Nigeria.”
The Federal Government sought another $245,258,640 as general damages.
The government said the lawsuits followed a forensic analysis linking the decline in crude oil export and government revenue at the time to the alleged under-declaration of the volume of crude oil shipped out of the country by the oil companies.
The Federal Government claimed to have uncovered the alleged illegality using high-technology Information Technology system, including satellite tracking systems, which were deployed by its consultants.
The statements of claims were backed up with supporting affidavits deposed to by three United States of America-based experts – Prof David Olowokere, a US citizen and Lead Analyst at Loumos Group LLC, US; Jerome Stanley, a lawyer in the law firm of Henchy & Hackenberg; and Micheal Kanko, founder and Chief Executive Officer, Trade Data Services Company, State of Arizona, US.
The deponents said about 57 million barrels of crude oil were allegedly illegally exported by Total and sold to buyers in the US between January 2011 and December 2014 without making due remittance to the Federal Government.
