The Federal High Court in Abuja on Friday, ordered President Muhammadu Buhari, in his capacity as the Minister of Petroleum Resources, to renew the Oil Mineral Lease 11 to Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) of Nigeria for another 20 years.
The presiding judge, Justice Taiwo Taiwo, delivering judgment on a suit filed by Shell, however, ordered that renewal would be for 20 years and not 30 as requested by the company in its suit.
The Federal Government had earlier told the court that its decision not to renew the operating license of the company was in the interest of the nation’s security.
Shell, which is the plaintiff in the case, had approached the court in a suit number: CS/524/19, to seek its intervention over the controversy surrounding the OML 11.
The Minister of Petroleum Resources, President Muhammadu Buhari, is the 1st defendant while the 2nd defendant is the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva.
