Chidiebere Ejiofor is a Senior Associate in the Dispute Resolution Practice Group.
He graduated with a second class upper division from the Nigerian Law School and the University of Calabar.
Before joining Templars he was a key associate in the law firm of Babalakin & Co. in Lagos where he specialized in various aspects of commercial litigation.
He is a key member of the team that worked closely with counsel from some international law firms in successfully representing major IOCs in a production sharing contract-related cost-recovery arbitration and associated litigation against the Nigerian state-owned oil corporation (NNPC).
Also, a key member of the team representing a couple of leading international oil companies (IOCs) at the Supreme Court in an appeal which seeks to reverse a decision of the Court of Appeal that upheld the setting-aside of an arbitral award in the sum of $1.799 billion made in favour in the IOCs.
He is a key member of the team that successfully represented an IOC in a suit filed by its EPC Contractor for the Egina Floating Production Storage and Offloading Vessel (FPSO) which sought to restrain the scheduled sail away of the completed FPSO to the Egina field pending arbitration.
A member of the team currently representing an indigenous oil company at the Court of Appeal in a dispute with the Ministry of Petroleum Resources (MPR) in which the central issue is whether, as asserted by the MPR, the residue of the client’s OPL, upon conversion to an OML, was automatically relinquished by the client and whether same had thus reverted to the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN), notwithstanding that: (i) no statutory provision provides for such automatic relinquishment; and (ii) a term of 2 years remained on the OPL at the material time the automatic relinquishment was imposed by the MPR.
A key member of the team currently representing a leading gas company in Nigeria in a suit commenced against the client by some Gencos in which they seek to restrain the FGN, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc (NBET) from paying the client’s invoices in full with funds from a Payment Assurance Facility (PAF) granted to NBET by the CBN, which PAF the Gencos claim was granted for their sole benefit, to the exclusion of Gascos.
A key member of the team that successfully represented a leading IOC at the Tax Appeal Tribunal (TAT) in a Petroleum Profits Tax dispute against the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) which centred on the applicable pricing of crude oil for purposes of calculating the Petroleum Profits Tax liability of exploration and production companies that are joint-venture partners of the NNPC.
A key member of the team that advised and represented an indigenous oil and gas company in a winding-up proceeding commenced against it by a creditor. The team subsequently represented the parent company and majority shareholder of the wound-up company in a post winding-up action and made a case for the appropriate voting threshold to be applied in the appointment of a Liquidator by the creditors at the first creditors’ meeting.
A key member of the team that represented an indigenous infrastructure company in an arbitration involving an investment dispute with the FGN in which the central issue was the breach of the FGN’s obligation (under a Development Lease Agreement between the FGN and the client) to indemnify the client against any defect in the FGN’s title in the subject property howsoever arising.
A key member of the team that successfully represented one of the foremost indigenous airport services companies in Nigeria in a series of disputes with the FGN, arising from the Public Private Partnership (PPP)-driven Concession Agreement concluded between the client and the FGN in respect of the domestic wing of the Murtala Mohammed Airport, Lagos.
A member of the team that represented a liquified natural gas company in Nigeria in a multi-million dollar dispute with the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), which, in the main, involved the determination of the issue as to whether NIMASA can impose certain levies or charges on the client under Section 15(a) of the NIMASA Act, 2007 having regard to the incentives afforded the company by the provisions of Section 6(8), (9), (10), Section 7(7) and Paragraph 3 of Schedule II of the Nigerian LNG (Fiscal Incentives, Guarantees and Assurances) Act, Cap N87, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004.
Recent publications / Presentations
“CROSS-BORDER JUDICIAL ASSISTANCE UNDER NIGERIAN LAW,” a paper published online on Templars’ website
“SOVEREIGN IMMUNITY AND ENFORCEMENT,” a paper presented at a training session organised by Templars.
“EKO ATLANTIC CITY AND MARITIME DELIMITATION IN INTERNATIONAL LAW,” a paper presented at the seminar session organised by the law firm Babalakin & Co.
