Marine firm seeks order to halt repatriation of N2bn

A Nigerian marine service provider, Phoenixtide Offshore Nigeria Limited, has sued its foreign partner, Tidewater Marine International Incorporation, before a Federal High Court in Lagos over alleged fraudulent activities which had deprived the country billions of naira in tax.

As the first step in halting the alleged fraudulent activities of the foreign firm, the plaintiff filed a motion ex-parte, praying Justice Okon Abang of a Lagos Federal High court to order the payment of N1. 595bn and $3.366m (about N2 billion) into an account of the court, with a view to stopping the repatriation of the funds abroad, pending the determination of the suit.

Other respondents are Tidex Nigeria Limited, Total E&P Nigeria Limited, Total Upstream Nigeria Limited and Total E&P Deepwater E Nigeria Limited.

According to an affidavit deposed to by Managing Director of Phoenixtide, Olutokunbo Afolabi Kuforiji, the plaintiff recalled that its sister company known as Phoenix Ocean Line Limited originally co-owned a company known as Tidewater Phoenix Nigeria Limited with the first defendant, Tidewater Marine International Incorporation.

Kuforiji added that in compliance with the applicable laws that vessels on bareboat charter for cabotage trade in Nigeria must be hired to and controlled by Nigerian citizens, the first defendant and the said sister company entered into an agreement on September 14, 2005 to change the name of Tidewater Phoenix Nigeria Limited to Phoenixtide Offshore Nigeria Limited, a development which now made the shareholding of the company to be 100 percent Nigeria-owned.