Economy
OML 49: Nigeria to Pay Transnational Energy $20m Damages
By Adedapo Adesanya
A Federal High Court in Abuja has ruled in favour of Transnational Energy Limited in the dispute over Oil Mining License (OML) 49 oil field and has ordered Nigeria to pay the firm $20 million damages.
According to the court judgment, Nigeria is expected to restore the Hely Creek and Abigborodo fields in OML 49, farmed-out to Transnational Energy Limited by the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC)/Chevron Joint Venture, back to the company (Transnational Energy).
The lease, which was concluded in 2017 between Transnational Energy and the joint venture operators, Chevron Nigeria Limited, was, among others, for the purpose of providing feedstock to a gas-to-power project developed by Transnational Energy and partners which started in 2012.
In February 2017, the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) had conveyed a letter of consent by the Minister of Petroleum Resources, approving the farm-out and its terms and equally directed the company to pay a prescribed premium to the federal government, after which the lease would become effective.
Transnational Energy paid the prescribed fee, but in January 2019, the late Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari, Mr Abba Kyari, wrote a memo revoking the earlier ministerial consent on the instruction of the President.
The DPR, without any notice to Transnational Energy, put the two fields in the 2020 marginal fields basket, though the fields were not part of the original 57 fields approved for the bid round.
The plaintiff (Transnational Energy Limited) and its sister company in the power business, Bresson A.S. Nigeria Limited, filed a suit FHC/ABJ/CS/1067/2020 in the Federal High Court, Abuja to challenge the actions of the respondents – the minister of petroleum resources, the minister of state for petroleum resources, the Department of Petroleum Resources, the National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS), and the Attorney of the Federation and Minister of Justice.
The suit, which was filed by way of general originating summons by Transnational Energy’s lawyer, Mr Sijuwade Kayode, was backed by a 27 paragraphs affidavit and 16 exhibits.
Transnational Energy contended that the fields were legally farmed-out to it and that having paid the prescribed premium to the federal government, the farm-out was completed and that the later actions of Mr Kyari were null and void.
The plaintiff asked for four reliefs amongst which is the award of $20 million as liquidated damages against the defendants.
The company exhibited its audited accounts, business plan, and financial model, which shows both plaintiffs had jointly expended $22.718 million on the development of the gas and power side of the project.
The financial models also showed it has lost an estimated sum of over $164 million due to the actions of the defendants while the federal government itself may have lost over $68 million in royalty and taxes not earned as a result of the actions of the defendants.
In paragraph 7 of the affidavit, the plaintiffs asserted that its gas-to-power project elicited massive international cooperation spanning over 15 countries and involving over 100 international experts. As a matter of fact, the Hungarian Exim Bank went to parliament to amend its legislation in order to raise her scope of participation in the power side of the projects.
The defendants on their own part argued that the court lacks jurisdiction to hear the case and that the actions of the plaintiff were “statute barred”. They also argued that the DPR, which communicated the letter of 2017, has no power to grant marginal fields and that only the President can do so.
In two and a half hours judgment running to 58 pages, the presiding judge in the case, Justice Taiwo Taiwo, held that the court has jurisdiction because the issue is that of contract. He listed a number of authorities to back his judgment.
Justice Taiwo held that the doctrine of presumption of regularity for the action of the DPR in the cases favours the plaintiff.
He held that Mr Kyari had no locus to act in the manner he did. He counselled government officials to always abide by contracts entered into and not to seek to terminate or abort them after the government has financially benefitted from such contracts and that the sanctity of contract is fundamental to the development of the economy.
The judge also held that the defendants did not challenge the claimant’s deposition and exhibits of its financial statements and therefore, he will be granting the main relief sought and not the alternative reliefs. He awarded $20 million as liquidated damages against the defendants.
Business Post understands that one of the defendants might have filed a notice of appeal backed by an application of stay of execution of the judgment.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigeria’s crude oil production slipped slightly to 1.422 million barrels per day in December 2025 from 1.436 million barrels per day in November, according to data from the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
OPEC in its Monthly Oil Market Report (MOMR), quoting primary sources, noted that the oil output was below the 1.5 million barrels per day quota for the nation.
The OPEC data indicate that Nigeria last met its production quota in July 2025, with output remaining below target from August through December.
Quarterly figures reveal a consistent decline across 2025; Q1: 1.468 million barrels per day, Q2: 1.481 million barrels per day, Q3: 1.444 million barrels per day, and 1.42 million barrels per day in Q4.
However, the cartel acknowledged that despite the gradual decrease in oil production, Nigeria’s non-oil sector grew in the second half of last year.
The organisation noted that “Nigeria’s economy showed resilience in 2H25, posting sound growth despite global challenges, as strength in the non-oil economy partly offset slower growth in the oil sector.”
According to the report, cooling inflation, a stronger Naira, lower refined fuel imports, and stronger remittance inflows are improving domestic and external conditions.
“A stronger naira, easing food prices due to the harvest, and a cooling in core inflation also point to gradually fading underlying pressures”, the report noted.
It forecast inflation to decelerate further on the back of past monetary tightening, currency strength, and seasonal harvest effects, though it noted that monetary policy remains restrictive.
“Seasonally adjusted real GDP growth at market prices moderated to stand at 3.9%, y-o-y, in 3Q25, down from 4.2% in 2Q25. Nonetheless, this is still a healthy and robust growth level, supported by strengthening non-oil activity, with growth in that segment rising by 0.3 percentage points to 3.9%, y-o-y. Inflation continued to decelerate in November, with headline CPI falling for an eighth straight month to 14.5%, y-o-y, following 16.1%, y-o-y, in October”.
OPEC, however, stated that while preserving recent disinflation gains is important, the persistently high policy rate – implying real interest rates of around 12% – risks weighing on aggregate demand in the near term.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Thursday revealed that inflation rate for December 2025 stood at 15.15 per cent compared with the 14.45 per cent it put the previous month.
However, it recalculated the November 2025 inflation rate at 17.33 per cent after using a 12-month index reference period where the average consumer price index (CPI) for the 12 months of 2024 is equated to 100. This is a departure from the single-month index reference period, in which December 2024 was set to 100, which would have produced an artificial spike in the December 2025 year-on-year inflation rate.
The NBS had earlier informed stakeholders a few days ago that it was changing its methodology for inflation to reflect the economic reality. This is coming after the organisation changed the base year from 2009 to 2024 earlier in 2025.
In its report released today, the stats agency explained that this process was in line with international best practice as contained in the Consumer Price Index Inter-national Monetary Fund (IMF) Manual, specifically in Section 9.125 and the ECOWAS Harmonised CPI Manual, which address index reference period maximisation, following a rebasing exercise.
On a month-on-month basis, the headline inflation rate in December 2025 was 0.54 per cent, lower than the 1.22 per cent recorded in November 2025.
The NBS also revealed that on a year-on-year basis, the urban inflation rate for last month stood at 14.85 per cent versus 37.29 per cent in December 2024, while on a month-on-month basis, it jumped to 0.99 per cent from 0.95 per cent in the preceding month.
As for the rural inflation rate in December 2025, it stood at 14.56 per cent on a year-on-year basis from 32.47 per cent in December 2024, and on a month-on-month basis, it declined to -0.55 per cent from 1.88 per cent in November 2025.
It was also disclosed that food inflation rate in December 2025 was 10.84 per cent on a year-on-year basis from 39.84 per cent in December 2024, while on a month-on-month basis, it declined to -0.36 per cent from 1.13 per cent in November 2025 (1.13%).
This was attributed to the rate of decrease in the average prices of tomatoes, garri, eggs, potatoes, carrots, millet, vegetables, plantain, beans, wheat grain, grounded pepper, fresh onions and others.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Companies operating in Lagos State have been reminded of their obligations to file their annual tax returns for the 2025 financial year on or before January 31, 2026.
This reminder was given by the Lagos State Internal Revenue Service (LIRS) in a statement made available to Business Post on Thursday.
In the notice signed by the chairman of the tax agency, Mr Ayodele Subair, it was stressed that filing the tax returns is an obligation as stipulated in the Nigeria Tax Administration Act (NTAA) 2025.
He explained that employers are required to file detailed returns on emoluments and compensation paid to their employees, as well as payments made to their service providers, vendors and consultants, and to ensure that all applicable taxes due for the year 2025 are fully remitted.
Mr Subair emphasised that filing of annual returns is a mandatory legal obligation, and warned that failure to comply will result in statutory sanctions, including administrative penalties, as prescribed under the new tax law.
According to Section 14 of the NTAA, employers are required to file detailed annual returns of all emoluments paid to employees, including taxes deducted and remitted to relevant tax authorities. Such returns must be filed and submitted not later than January 31 each year.
“Employers must prioritise the timely filing of their annual income tax returns. Compliance should be part of our everyday business practice.
“Early and accurate filing not only ensures adherence to the law as required by the Nigerian Constitution, but also supports effective revenue tracking, which is important to Lagos State’s fiscal planning and sustainability,” he noted.
The LIRS chief disclosed that electronic filing via the organisation’s eTax platform remains the only approved and acceptable mode of filing, as manual submissions have been completely phased out. This measure, he said, is aimed at simplifying and standardising tax administration processes in the state.
Employers are therefore required to submit their annual tax returns exclusively through the LIRS eTax portal: https://etax.lirs.net.
Dr Subair described the channel as secure, user-friendly, accessible 24/7, and designed to provide employers with a convenient and efficient means of fulfilling their tax obligations, advising firms to ensure that the tax identification number (Tax ID) of all employees is correctly captured in their filings, noting that employees without a Tax ID must generate one promptly to avoid disruptions during the filing process.
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