Business
Court awards N82bn damages against Mobil, NNPC over oil spills
A federal high court in Abuja has ordered Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation to pay N81.9bn as damages to communities in Ibeno LGA of Akwa Ibom State over oil spillage.
The court awarded the sum of N42.8bn as damages for intangible losses, N21.9bn for special damages as annotated and N10bn as general damages.
Delivering the judgment on Monday, the judge, Taiwo Taiwo, said the companies must make payment to the communities within 14 days.
The suit was instituted against the two defendants by the aggrieved oil-producing communities led by Obong Effiong Archianga and nine others through their lawyers, Lucius Nwosu.
They had sought about N100 billion compensation for economic losses suffered from oil spillages caused by the defendants during exploration, NAN quoted court papers.
The judge held that the negligence of Mobil and NNPC caused environmental degradation in the communities.
He said NNPC is only interested in the revenue generations from the oil exploration at the expense of the people’s lives in the communities.
Taiwo said that he believed the oral and documentary evidence adduced by the plaintiffs to support their claims that lives were made miserable for them when their water and land were polluted through crude oil leakages from old oil pipelines.
He noted the claims of Mobil that it did clean up exercise and held that the oil giant failed to address the compensation that would have mitigated the economic losses of the people said to be mainly fishermen and farmers.
The judge also described witnesses called by Mobil as unreliable, adding that for no reason they became evasive during cross-examination by counsel to the plaintiffs.
He held that the oral and documentary evidence produced by Mobil Company were not in any way helpful to the court as they were targeted at serving predetermined interest.
The judge further said that some of the witnesses ought not to have come to the court at all going by the discrepancies in the documents brought to the court, adding that they only embarked on guess research that was not reliable.
He further held that both Mobil and NNPC were negligent by their failure to visit places of the leakages of the crude oil that led to the contamination of rivers and creeks.
The judge rejected the claims of the Mobil joint venture partner, NNPC, that the suit was statute-barred in 2012 when the aggrieved plaintiffs filed it.
The NNPC had claimed that the suit was not filed within 12 months by the plaintiffs as required by the provision of Section 12, Sub Section 1 of the NNPC Act, 2004.
However, the judge held that the instant suit had to do with fundamental rights that cannot be rendered impotent by the statute of limitations.
He stated further that Section 11, Subsection 5 of the Oil Pipeline Act made it mandatory for oil companies to monitor and repair their pipelines to avoid spillages and environmental degradation.
Business
I’m honoured, excited over World Bank’s appointment – Dangote
I’m honoured, excited over World Bank’s appointment – Dangote
President and CEO of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, has expressed gratitude following his appointment to the World Bank’s Private Sector Investment Lab, a global initiative aimed at accelerating private investment and job creation in emerging economies.
In a statement confirming the development, Dangote described the appointment as both an honour and a reflection of his long-standing commitment to economic development through private enterprise.
“I am both honoured and excited to accept my appointment to the World Bank’s Private Sector Investment Lab, dedicated to advancing investment and employment in emerging economies,” Dangote said.
“This opportunity aligns with my long-standing commitment to sustainable development and unlocking the potential of developing economies.”
He referenced the successes of the so-called Asian Tigers, economies that experienced rapid growth through strategic investment, as a source of inspiration for advancing similar outcomes in other parts of the world.
The World Bank announced Dangote’s inclusion on Wednesday as part of a broader expansion of the Lab, which enters a new phase focused on scaling up solutions that attract private capital and generate employment in developing countries.
Other newly appointed members include Bill Anderson, CEO of Bayer AG; Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman of Bharti Enterprises; and Mark Hoplamazian, President and CEO of Hyatt Hotels Corporation.
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World Bank Group President Ajay Banga noted that the expanded membership underscores the institution’s focus on integrating private-sector leadership into its strategy for global job creation.
“With the expanded membership, we are mainstreaming this work across our operations and tying it directly to the jobs agenda that is driving our strategy,” Banga said.
“This isn’t about altruism—it’s about helping the private sector see a path to investments that will deliver returns, and lift people and economies alike. It’s central to our mandate.”
The lab, which was co-chaired in 2023 by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, previously sought to mobilise £1 trillion in sustainable investment, particularly targeting energy transition projects in emerging markets.
Aviation
Air Peace suspends flights nationwide over NiMet strike
Air Peace suspends flights nationwide over NiMet strike
Air Peace has suspended all its flight operations across the country due to the ongoing strike by the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet).
The airline said in a statement on Wednesday that it was also suspending operations due to the unavailability of QNH (hazardous weather) reports required for safe landings.
“Due to the ongoing NiMet strike and the unavailability of QNH (hazardous weather) reports required for safe landings, Air Peace has suspended all flight operations nationwide until the strike is over,” Air Peace said.
“Your safety is our top priority. We appreciate your understanding and will share updates as the situation unfolds.”
The airline had earlier announced that the NiMet strike could lead to flight delays and cancellations across its network.
Air Peace added that it was monitoring the situation and working with relevant stakeholders to minimise the impact on customers’ travel plans.
Employees of NiMet commenced a nationwide indefinite strike over welfare issues on Wednesday.
Some of the issues raised involve “NiMet’s refusal to negotiate or implement agreed financial allowances and unresolved entitlements,” including wage awards, peculiar allowances, and outstanding payments from the 2019 minimum wage.
They also accused the management of the agency of withholding important documents, ignoring requests for inclusion of omitted staff in past payments, and neglecting key training programmes in favour of executive retreats.
Business
Nigeria’s gas production increases by 15.6% to 227,931.65 mscf
Nigeria’s gas production increases by 15.6% to 227,931.65 mscf
Nigeria’s gas output has increased 15,6 percent month-on-month, MoM, to 227,931.65 million standard cubic feet, mscf, in March 2025.
But on year-on-year, YoY basis, the nation’s gas output recorded a marginal increase to 227,931.65 mscf in March 2025, from 198,353.62 mscf, recorded in the corresponding period of 2024.
Data obtained from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, NUPRC, Gas Production Status reports indicated that of the total of 227,931.65 mscf produced in March 2025, 119,552.75 mscf was associated while 108,378.90 mscf was non-associated gas.
Associated gas is extracted in the process of producing crude oil while non-associated gas is produced without crude oil after much investment, exploration and development.
The Ministry of Petroleum Resources (Gas), which is directly involved in the development of policies, targeted at increasing investment in the sector said efforts have been made to increase investment and production of gas in Nigeria.
Similarly, in its recent report obtained by Vanguard, the Nigerian LNG Limited stated: “We are fully committed to expanding our operations with the NLNG Train 7 Project, which will boost our production capacity by 35%, increasing from 22 Million Tonnes Per Annum (mtpa) to 30 mtpa. This project underscores our role as a key player in the global LNG market and positions Nigeria as a top-tier supplier of LNG, leveraging its vast proven gas reserves of 202 trillion cubic feet (the 9th largest globally).
Vanguard
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