By Ikechukwu Nnochiri
ABUJA— The Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal has been asked to overturn the Federal Government’s recent decision to allocate four new oil wells in the Niger Delta region.
The disputed oil wells, whose allocation the appellate court was asked to look into, are: Yorla South (PPL 2A32/OML 11) in Rivers State, Akiapiri (PPL 2A48/OML 25) and Diebu Creek East (OML 32) in Bayelsa State, and Idiok (PPL 2A41/OML 67) in Akwa Ibom State.
The appeal was lodged by two firms, Hi-Rev Oil Limited and Hi-Rev Exploration & Production Limited.
According to the appellants, the Minister of Petroleum Resources and the Nigeria Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) had, on July 21, conducted bidding and allocation of the oil wells despite the fact that they were the subject of pending litigation.
The appellants, in the motion filed through a team of lawyers led by Chief Chukwuma-Machukwu Ume, SAN, prayed the court to set aside the allocations and restore the four oil fields to the status quo that existed when the appeal and their application for stay were filed.
They are also seeking an interlocutory injunction restraining the respondents, their agents, partners, staff and other persons acting on their behalf from dealing with, transferring or otherwise interfering with the fields pending determination of the appeal.
Listed as 1st to 3rd respondents in the matter are the Minister of Petroleum Resources, the Attorney-General of the Federation and the NUPRC.
It will be recalled that the Federal High Court, Abuja, had on December 22, 2025, in a suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/2678/2025, directed the respondents to show cause why an interim injunction sought by the two firms against the allocation of the oil blocks should not be granted.
The appellants argued that the order was still on the court’s file when the substantive suit was struck out on April 20, 2026, owing to preliminary objections filed by the respondents.
Dissatisfied with the decision, they took the matter to the Court of Appeal.
Among other grounds, the appellants challenged the decision of the high court to decline jurisdiction over the matter on the basis of an allegedly incompetent pre-action notice issued to NUPRC.
The appellants averred that they had, on May 21, filed and served a further application seeking a stay of execution and orders preventing the respondents from allocating, transferring or selling the four oil fields pending determination of the appeal.
They alleged, however, that NUPRC proceeded with the disputed process despite being aware of the pending legal proceedings.
The appellants cited a sequence of actions allegedly undertaken by NUPRC, including a pre-bid conference on January 14, 2026, a bid submission deadline of June 12, and commercial bid proceedings in July.
They argued that allowing the allocations to stand could create a fait accompli and potentially undermine the appellate court’s eventual decision.
The appellants maintained that the right to a pending appeal is a constitutional right, and urged the court to protect not only that right but also its own authority, by preventing actions that could render its eventual judgment ineffective.
Meanwhile, the appellate court has yet to fix a date for the case to be heard.
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