Court adjourns Bayelsa traditional ruler’s suit against SPDC
The Federal High Court, Yenagoa Division, on Wednesday, adjourned a suit filed by Bubaraiye Dakolo, traditional ruler of Ekpetiama in Yenagoa LGA, until May 6.
Mr Dakolo is challenging the divestment of Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited from onshore assets.
Justice Ayo Emmanuel adjourned the case due to the absence of legal representatives from the office of the attorney general of the federation.
The judge said that he was inclined to grant the adjournment in the interest of justice.
Earlier, J.P. Kudo, counsel to Shell UK PLC, informed the court that counsel to the Attorney-General of the Federation had written a letter seeking an adjournment on the grounds that he was engaged at the Court of Appeal.
However, the plaintiff’s counsel, Chuks Uguru, who opposed the request, urged the court to go ahead and hear the pending motion for preliminary objection by Shell.
He argued that the country’s legal jurisprudence has gone beyond mere delay tactics and technicalities to frustrate indigent communities’ access to justice.
The plaintiff challenged the court’s jurisdiction in a suit seeking to set aside Shell UK PLC’s divestment of onshore and shallow-water assets hitherto operated by SPDC.
The plaintiff in the suit alleged that Shell’s divestment did not comply with the stipulated guidelines under the Petroleum Industry Act 2021.
The environmental justice groups Social Action and the Health of Mother Earth Foundation are joined in the suit.
Listed as defendants in the suit No. FHC/YNG/CS/81/2025 are Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria, Shell Petroleum N.V., and Shell UK PLC.
Others are the attorney general of the federation, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, the minister of Petroleum Resources and Renaissance Energy Africa Ltd.
Renaissance Energy Africa, a consortium of indigenous oil firms, in March 2025, acquired the onshore and shallow-water oil and gas assets hitherto operated by SPDC following Shell UK PLC’s divestments, the parent company of SPDC.
(NAN)
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