Nigeria, July 11 -- The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Abuja has nullified the arbitration proceedings instituted at the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), London, against Aiteo Eastern E&P Company Limited by a consortium of lenders that financed its $3 billion acquisition of Oil Mining Lease (OML) 29 and the Nembe Creek Trunk Line (NCTL) from Shell in 2014.

In a ruling on Tuesday, the judge, S.B. Belgore, described the arbitration as a violation of the court's subsisting injunctive orders and declared the proceedings null and void.

The decision followed an application by Tempo Energy Nigeria Limited, a minority stakeholder in the 2014 transaction, which accused the lenders-including top Nigerian banks and internati...