Abuja, May 29, 2026 — The Supreme Court has ruled in favour of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) in a dispute over the transfer of a legal matter from a Lagos State High Court to the Federal High Court.
The case stemmed from an earlier judgment by the Court of Appeal in Lagos, which directed that a suit instituted by Integrated Oil and Gas Ltd and its Chairman, retired Capt. Emmanuel Ihenacho, be moved to the Federal High Court for speedy hearing after holding that the Lagos State High Court lacked jurisdiction over the matter.
Not satisfied with the decision, NIMASA approached the apex court, seeking clarification on whether the appellate court acted within the law by ordering the transfer instead of striking out the case.
In its appeal, filed by Chief Emeka Ngige (SAN), the agency argued that the Court of Appeal wrongly relied on Section 15 of the Court of Appeal Act because the Lagos State High Court had no legal authority to transfer a matter to the Federal High Court.
According to NIMASA, while the Federal High Court is empowered under Section 22(2) of the Federal High Court Act to transfer cases to state high courts where necessary, no corresponding provision allows state high courts to transfer matters to the Federal High Court when jurisdiction is lacking.
Counsel to the respondents, Emmanuel Ekpenyong of Fred-Young & Evans LP, urged the Supreme Court to uphold the appellate court’s decision, insisting that Section 15 of the Court of Appeal Act gave the lower court powers to make orders necessary to ensure justice and determination of disputes on their merits.
Delivering a unanimous judgment, a five-member panel of the Supreme Court led by Justice Moore Adumein nullified the Court of Appeal’s order transferring the suit to the Federal High Court.
The apex court held that once the appellate court concluded that the Lagos State High Court lacked jurisdiction, the proper order should have been to strike out the matter entirely.
The court further explained that although the Federal High Court has statutory powers to transfer cases to state high courts, state high courts do not possess similar authority to transfer cases to the Federal High Court in situations where they lack jurisdiction.
The suit, marked LD/ADR/91/2013, was initially filed by Integrated Oil and Gas Ltd and Ihenacho against NIMASA, former NIMASA Director-General Patrick Akpobolokemi, Barrister Callistus Nwabueze Obi and Hajia Lami Tumaka.
The claimants sought damages amounting to N90 billion and N349 million, alongside an order compelling the defendants to publish apologies and retractions in national newspapers and on NIMASA’s website over allegations linking them to oil theft and illegal oil activities.
The defendants challenged the competence of the suit, with NIMASA arguing that the matter amounted to an abuse of court process because a related case was already pending before the Federal High Court in Lagos.
Although the Lagos State High Court dismissed the objection, the Court of Appeal later overturned the ruling and directed the transfer of the case to the Federal High Court before the Supreme Court eventually set aside that decision.