BREAKING: Abuja Court Reinstates Ararume As NNPC Board Chairman
The Federal High Court in Abuja has held that the removal of Senator Ifeanyi Ararume as board chairman of the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited is null and void.
Justice Inyang Ekwo passed the verdict in his judgment following a N100 billion suit filed by Ararume challenging his replacement by President Muhammadu Buhari when the latter constituted a nine-member board and management of the NNPC Limited in January 2022.
Advertisement
President Buhari had on September 2021 appointed Ararume as the non-executive chairman of the NNPC Limited but later suspended the appointment replacing him with Margret Chuba Okadigbo.
But in his suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/691/2022, the lawmaker had asked the court to “determine whether his replacement did not contravene provisions of the Memorandum and Articles of Association of the NNPC, Companies and Allied Matters Act 2010 and the Petroleum Industry Act 2021, amongst others.”
On Tuesday, Ekwo held that Ararume’s removal was illegal while awarding the lawmaker N5 billion as general damages.
The judge ordered the applicant’s immediate reinstatement by the federal government.
