Macobarb Faults Rivers High Court Verdict In N5.74bn Dispute with NLNG … Says Judgment Ignored Evidence, Misrepresented Facts

An indigenous engineering firm, Macobarb International Limited, has faulted a recent judgment by the Rivers State High Court in a contract dispute involving the company and the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG), describing the verdict as “deeply unjust” and “legally flawed”.

The ruling, delivered on July 16, 2025, by Honourable Justice Chinwendu Nwogu in suit number HC/2013/CS/2022, dismissed Macobarb’s N5.74 billion claim against the NLNG.

The judge ruled that the company’s failure to complete the project stemmed from alleged loan mismanagement rather than any breach of contract by the gas giant.

But Macobarb’s Managing Director, Mr. Shedrack Ogboru, insists the court erred fundamentally by ignoring contractual evidence, including 49 exhibits showing that NLNG failed to make agreed milestone payments, which ultimately stalled the project.

“We executed over 60 successful jobs for NLNG under lower categories. This was our first EPC-level contract a significant upgrade.

“We delivered as agreed, but NLNG withheld critical payments without reason. It became clear that something bigger was at play”, he said

According to Ogboru, the contract stipulated a N32 million first milestone payment, of which NLNG paid only N8 million over a span of two years.

He also explained that despite having payment certificates endorsed by the relevant NLNG official, payments were blocked repeatedly not for lack of work, but due to one official’s refusal to sign.

Macobarb claims it exhausted internal channels, including formal notices and requests for arbitration, before reluctantly heading to court on NLNG’s insistence.

However, he said the judgment revealed why the company preferred the legal route.

He also criticized the judge’s handling of Macobarb’s claim for Standby Cost compensation for idle time caused by NLNG delays.

 “Our contract allows standby cost claims at specific rates. We submitted this using agreed calculations. The judge confused this with ‘Stand-down cost’, which is not part of our agreement, and dismissed it entirely”, he said.

In a further twist, the court expunged the testimony of an independent forensic auditor who validated Macobarb’s claims. Justice Nwogu ruled that the expert was an “interested party” and that his involvement came during the pendency of the case, a claim Ogboru firmly denied.

“The expert was engaged in 2018, long before the matter reached this judge. He simply updated the same audit for court use in 2024. His role was to independently confirm figures already in our contract. Declaring him an interested party was shocking”, he said.

Macobarb also expressed concern over the court’s refusal to provide the Record of Proceedings, a vital document for preparing the final address and filing an appeal.

Ogboru further argued that NLNG never contested the computation of the N5.74 billion claim, nor did it submit alternative figures.

 “We expected them to counter or question our calculations. They did not. Yet the court ruled as though our figures were invented”, he said.

As the company prepares to file an appeal, Macobarb is raising broader concerns about the treatment of local contractors in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector.

Efforts to obtain official comments from NLNG were unsuccessful as of press time.

King Onunwor