Nestoil Denies Receivership Claim, Says Report False, Contemptuous

Wale Igbintade

Nestoil Limited has refuted reports claiming that Nestoil and Neconde are under receivership, describing the publication as false, misleading, and an attempt to prejudice ongoing court proceedings involving FirstBank Trustees and FBNQuest Merchant Bank.

In a statement, Abimbola Attitebi, Head of Legal at Nestoil, clarified that the plaintiffs’ ex-parte application seeking judicial recognition of their “purported receiver-manager” was refused by the court.

He added that all applications seeking judicial confirmation of the alleged receivership, filed by the plaintiffs on behalf of secondary lender banks led by FirstBank are still pending before the Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos.

Attitebi stressed that any publication suggesting that Nestoil or Neconde is under receivership is not only false but also prejudicial and amounts to contempt of court.

According to him, an inchoate receiver-manager appointment without court recognition has no legal authority to take control of the defendants’ assets, including freezing company or directors’ accounts.

He further noted that the plaintiffs and their purported receiver-manager “cannot blow hot and cold at the same time,” emphasising that Nigerian law prohibits self-help.

“Having submitted themselves to the jurisdiction of the court, the plaintiffs must await the court’s final determination of their suit seeking judicial recognition of the alleged receivership and other related reliefs,” the statement added.