The Federal High Court of Nigeria in Lagos has stepped into the affairs of AMNI International Petroleum Development Company Limited, placing the oil firm under court-supervised administration following a fresh debt claim by one of its creditors.
In a ruling delivered on Monday, Nicholas Aneke granted the request of CCM Vessel Management Company Limited, ordering that an independent administrator take control of the company’s business and assets in line with the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA), 2020. The decision marks the second time in recent days that the court has ordered similar intervention in the company’s operations over creditor disputes.
The decision was handed down by Justice Aneke in Suit No: FHCL/CS/1463/2025 after considering an application filed by CCM Vessel Management Company Limited. The ruling came just days after the court issued a similar administration order on Friday, February 13, 2026, in a separate creditor action brought by Cenroc FPSO Solutions Nigerian Limited against AMNI.
With the latest order, the Court again appointed Mr. Sam Aiboni, Esq., as Administrator/Receiver-Manager to take control of the affairs of AMNI, marking the second consecutive judicial intervention within the same period arising from distinct creditor applications.
In granting the application, the Court held that the statutory thresholds for administration under CAMA, 2020 had been satisfied. It consequently directed that an independent administrator be appointed to assume possession, management and control of the company’s business and assets in line with the insolvency provisions of the law.
The order empowers the Administrator to take custody of AMNI’s corporate assets, including its Lagos office premises and operational assets tied to its upstream petroleum operations. Among the assets referenced in the proceedings is the FPSO Princess Aweni, formerly known as Armada Perkasa, deployed at the Okoro Field in Rivers State, subject to regulatory and judicial oversight.
Reacting to the ruling, the Administrator, Mr. Aiboni, clarified that insolvency proceedings are creditor-driven and determined on the basis of materials placed before the Court in each specific case. He explained that the consecutive rulings do not represent a duplication of proceedings but rather independent judicial determinations in separate creditor applications filed within the same timeframe.
According to him, the application by CCM Vessel Management Company Limited stemmed from an outstanding debt claim of $2,625,429.21 allegedly owed under a contractual arrangement for operations and maintenance services rendered in respect of FPSO Princess Aweni at the Okoro Field.
“The Court took cognisance of the documentary and statutory materials placed before it and was satisfied that the conditions prescribed under CAMA for the grant of an administration order had been met,” Aiboni said.
He further noted that court-supervised administration is not a liquidation measure but a structured corporate rescue and creditor-protection mechanism.
“The framework provides independent oversight of a company’s affairs, preserves asset value, facilitates restructuring or orderly management of distressed businesses, and ensures that creditor interests are protected within a regulated legal environment,” he explained.
Aiboni added that the appointment reflects the Court’s exercise of its statutory authority to place the company under professional and independent management, in line with the objectives of Nigeria’s insolvency regime under CAMA, 2020.
