By Dipo Olowookere
The decision of Access Bank Plc to seal the corporate headquarters of Seplat in Lagos has not gone down well with the energy company.
As a result of this, the indigenous oil firm has vowed to take legal action against the financial institution, which is known for its aggressive loan recovery strategy.
On Wednesday, Access Bank sealed the office of Seplat on 16A Temple Road, Ikoyi, Lagos.
The reason was that one of the companies offering drilling services to Seplat, Cardinal Drilling Services Limited, has allegedly failed to pay the credit facility it obtained from the bank.
But Seplat is angry that instead of taking an action on Cardinal Drilling, Access Bank is pouncing on it (Seplat), especially when it never stood as a guarantor for the drilling firm, according to a statement from the oil company.
“On December 2, 2020, the building in which Seplat corporate headquarters is located, at 16A Temple Road, Ikoyi, Lagos, was sealed in connection with a court case by Access Bank against Cardinal Drilling Services Limited, a third party providing drilling services to Seplat,” the statement said.
According to Seplat, it understands 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.
“Seplat will vigorously defend against this improper action to the full extent of the law and will seek all appropriate legal remedies,” the disclosure stated.
Adedapo Adesanya