By Jerry Uwah
Lagos
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the Pipelines and Products Marketing Company (PPMC) yesterday urged the Federal High Court in Lagos to strike out a suit accusing them of violating the Cabotage Act by using foreign flagged vessels to lift oil in Nigeria’s coastal waters.
A former director-general of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Raymond Omatseye, had gone to court seeking an order directing NNPC and PPMC to cancel all contracts with foreign flagged vessels operating in Nigeria without licence.
The plaintiff is also urging the court to direct the defendants, except NIMASA, to pay fines stipulated in the Cabotage Act for their alleged violation of the law.
Omatseye said NNPC and PPMC engaged the vessels in domestic coastal trade without requisite licenses being issued or any waivers granted to them as stipulate in the Act.
He asked the court to determine whether Nigeria’s shipping laws have not restricted foreign flagged vessels, or vessels not owned or built by Nigerians and registered in Nigeria from engaging in domestic coastal trade within the country’s territorial waters.
Joined in the suit as third to ninth defendants are NIMASA and the vessels’ operators, namely Olimpex Nigeria Limited, Unibros Shipping Corporation, Africulti Limited, Marika Investments Limited, Nidas Marine Limited and Prometheus Maritime Limited.
During hearing of the suit yesterday, the plaintiff’s lawyer Mr Edoka Onyeke, said it was illegal for the foreign-owned vessels to operate in Nigeria without licence.
“Until they show they have the requisite permissions, they cannot continue to operate in Nigeria,” he said. Onyeke said the plaintiff’s case is for the court to interpret the provisions of the law.
But counsel for the eighth defendant, Mr Sebastine Hon (SAN), urged the court to dismiss the suit for lack of jurisdiction.
He said the plaintiff lacks the locus standi to institute the action because he was not privy to the contract which NNPC and PPMC entered with the vessels’ owners. Hon said the suit was also criminal in nature, as the plaintiff was accusing the agencies of allowing the vessels to operate without licence.