Court Voids Mareva Orders Over Fair Hearing Breach

The Federal High Court in Lagos has cancelled the proceedings of November 21, 2025, in the case of Collins Onyeweama & Anor v. Techno Oil Limited & Ors, with all the interim orders made that day.

Naija News reports that the court ruled that the steps taken on that date breached the respondents’ right to a fair hearing.

In a ruling delivered on December 24, 2025, Justice Ayokunle Faji stated that the interim Mareva orders were granted after the petitioners and their lawyers failed to reveal key facts and misled the court.

The orders were sought by way of an ex parte motion, alleging that assets linked to the 1st respondent were being moved out of reach.

The application was heard without notifying the respondents or their lawyers, even though all parties were already represented in the suit.

Before this, the matter had last been heard on November 7, 2025, and adjourned to December 11, 2025, for a settlement update.

After the interim orders were issued, the respondents’ counsel filed separate applications seeking to set aside the orders on the grounds of a breach of fair hearing and lack of jurisdiction.

Senior lawyers, including Professor Kemi Pinheiro, SAN, and other counsel, appeared for the respondents and parties seeking to be bound by the orders.

They argued that the petitioners failed to tell the court that Exhibit 25, which formed the basis of the Mareva request, had already been filed about two months earlier in a motion on notice.

Instead, the petitioners’ counsel presented the facts as new information.

Justice Faji found that if the court had been told the truth about the earlier filing, the ex parte request would not have been granted.

As a result, the court voided the November 21, 2025, proceedings and all orders made that day for violating the respondents’ constitutional right to a fair hearing.

Justice Faji also withdrew from further handling of the case to protect trust in the court process and directed that the case file be sent to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court for reassignment to another judge in the Lagos Division.