Seplat Petroleum Sues Access Bank for ‘wrongfully’ Sealing its Headquarters

Leading Nigerian oil exploration firm, Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc, informed the Nigerian Stock Exchange and other stakeholders that it is set to sue Access Bank Plc. This follows a court order that was recently obtained by the tier-1 bank, leading to the sealing off of the building in which Seplat Petroleum’s headquarters is located.

In a regulatory filing which was seen by Business Elites Africa, Seplat Petroleum explained that the court order was issued against Cardinal Drilling Services Ltd, which is headquartered in the same building located at 16A Temple Road in Ikoyi, Lagos.

Apparently, Cardinal Drilling Services Ltd is indebted to Access Bank Plc. And that s why the bank obtained the court order in the first place. However, the sealing off of the entire building has obstructed the business activities of other companies in the building, including that of Seplat.

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“We understand that Cardinal Drilling has outstanding loan obligations to Access Bank. However, SEPLAT is neither a shareholder in Cardinal Drilling, nor has outstanding loan obligations or guarantees to Access Bank and did not at any time make any commitments or guarantees in respect of Cardinal Drilling’s loan obligations to Access Bank. SEPLAT strongly believes that there is no merit or justification for this action against it and has taken prompt legal action to vacate the court order pursuant to which the building was sealed. This action was taken by Access Bank without any prior notice to SEPLAT, as required under Nigerian law,” part of the statement by Seplat Petroleum said.

As at the time of filing this report, Access Bank Plc has yet to respond to the impending lawsuit by Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc. Checks by Business Elites Africa confirmed that there has been  no prior legal disputes between both companies.