Malabu Oil & Gas Limited has taken the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) to the Federal High Court in Abuja, accusing the agency of unlawfully delisting it from the Companies Register — a move the firm describes as a direct threat to its ongoing litigations and appeal rights.
Filed via an originating summons, the suit is anchored on the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) 2020, the Nigerian Constitution, and the Federal High Court Act, 2004. Malabu contends that the CAC’s action amounts to interference with matters still before the courts and a violation of its statutory and constitutional protections.
Incorporated in 1998 by Mohammed Sani Abacha and two others, Malabu was awarded the highly coveted Oil Prospecting License (OPL) 245 by the Federal Government. But following Abacha’s detention between 1999 and 2002, the company’s shareholding and directorship were allegedly altered without his consent — setting off years of legal and regulatory battles.
Between 2005 and 2011, Malabu’s counsel, R.O. Atabo (SAN), repeatedly petitioned CAC over disputed filings. The Commission subsequently placed a caveat on the company’s records to block unauthorized changes pending resolution of ongoing investigations and court cases, including those by the EFCC.
Despite several active civil and criminal cases — among them FHC/ABJ/CS/51/2010, FHC/ABJ/CS/14/2017, and CR/151/2020 — CAC allegedly proceeded to strike off Malabu’s name, citing “inactivity” and failure to file annual returns. The company insists this was done without lifting the caveat or publishing the statutory notices in national newspapers, as required under Sections 692(3) and (5) of CAMA 2020.
The suit raises critical questions for judicial determination:
Whether CAC can deregister a company with multiple ongoing litigations and appeals.
Whether such action violates the doctrine of lis pendens and the company’s right to fair hearing.
Whether CAC followed due process in compliance with statutory notice provisions.
Malabu is asking the court to declare the deregistration illegal, null, and void, to restore its name to the Companies Register, and to issue a perpetual injunction restraining CAC from similar actions in the future.
Legal observers say the case could redefine the boundaries of regulatory power and corporate due process in Nigeria.
“This isn’t just about Malabu — it’s a test of how far administrative agencies can go without judicial sanction,” a senior corporate lawyer in Abuja said.
The Federal High Court is expected to schedule the matter for hearing in the coming weeks.