Nigeria Case Law

Introduction Is an offshore drilling rig a ship? And can the Federal High Court, a court with jurisdiction across the entire country, ever be "out of jurisdiction" simply because its process was served in a different city from where it was issued? This appeal answered both questions, and along the way overturned a precedent the Supreme Court itself had been applying for over a decade. The Court unanimously allowed the appeal and dismissed the cross-appeal. Facts of the Case Noble Drilling sued NIMASA and the Minister of Transport at the Federal High Court, Lagos, by originating summons, seeking a declaration that its offshore drilling rigs were not "vessels" under the Coastal and Inland Shipping (Cabotage) Act, 2003, that its operations did not amount to "coastal trade" or "cabotage," and that the Minister had acted beyond his powers in classifying the rigs as subject to cabotage waiver fees. It also sought an injunction restraining the r...

A cargo dispute can feel like admiralty law almost by instinct — ships, ports, containers, bills of lading, what else could it be? But the Supreme Court used First Kings v. Jahlive Sadakka to draw a sharper line than most people expect: admiralty jurisdiction has a finish line, and once goods are handed over, that finish line has been crossed. A company that fought this case all the way to the apex court over a warehouse dispute found out the hard way that "it involved a ship at some point" isn't enough to get you into the Federal High Court's admiralty jurisdiction. The Facts First Kings Investment Ltd. imported 75 cartons of electric car jacks from China under a bill of lading. The shipment moved through a Chinese freight forwarder, Fan Cheng International Transportation Services (Eurasia), which in turn appointed a Nigerian consolidator, Admiralty Logistics & Purchasing Limited, to clear the container through Customs, move it to a warehouse, unstuff it, and han...