The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd.) has won a major legal battle as the Court of Appeal in Abuja nullified a lower court ruling that reinstated Senator Ifeanyi Araraume as non-executive Chairman and awarded him ₦5 billion in damages.
The appellate court’s judgment on August 8, 2025, upheld NNPC Ltd.’s appeal against the April 2023 decision of the Federal High Court, ruling that Araraume’s case was statute-barred. This means the claim was filed outside the legal time limit.
The ruling spares NNPC Ltd. from a massive payout and removes the legal uncertainty surrounding decisions made by its Board since 2021. Industry observers say the verdict safeguards the company’s governance stability and sets a strong precedent in corporate governance law in Nigeria.
In its reaction, NNPC Ltd. stated that the decision “secures governance stability, upholds Board resolutions critical to the oil and gas sector, and protects the company’s investment and policy direction.”
With this judgment, all NNPC Board decisions taken since 2021 remain valid, ending over two years of legal and operational uncertainty.
