The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) has won a significant legal battle after the Court of Appeal in Abuja overturned a Federal High Court judgment that had ordered the reinstatement of Senator Ifeanyi Araraume as non-executive Chairman and awarded him ₦5 billion in damages. The appellate court’s ruling, delivered on August 8, 2025, marks a major win for the state-owned oil firm.
The Court of Appeal, upholding NNPC Ltd’s appeal, declared that the earlier decision from the Federal High Court was “delivered in error” and that Araraume’s claim was “statute-barred,” meaning it was filed outside the legal time limit. This verdict not only saves NNPC Ltd from a substantial financial payout but also resolves a long-standing governance dispute that had been a source of legal uncertainty for over two years.
The legal saga began in April 2023, when a Federal High Court nullified former President Muhammadu Buhari’s 2021 decision to remove Araraume from the board. The court ordered his reinstatement and awarded him ₦5 billion in general damages. This decision had raised concerns within the oil and gas sector about the legitimacy of all board resolutions passed since his removal, prompting NNPC Ltd to appeal the judgment.
In a statement released on Wednesday, the company’s management highlighted the significance of the appellate court’s decision. The statement read, in part: “The Court of Appeal’s judgment spares NNPC Ltd a massive financial payout and removes a legal risk that could have invalidated all decisions of the Board since 2021.”
The company further emphasized that the ruling “secures governance stability for NNPC Ltd., sets a corporate governance precedent in Nigerian law, and upholds the validity of Board resolutions critical to the oil and gas industry’s investment and policy direction.”
