Zenon Petroleum & Gas Limited has firmly denied media reports alleging that its headquarters in Victoria Island, Lagos, was seized following a judgment debt of N7.2 billion.
In a statement issued through its legal counsel, Paschal Chimezie, and obtained by our correspondent, the company described the reports as misleading and malicious. The response was titled: “Re: Appeal Court Seizes Zenon property over unpaid judgment debt.”
According to the statement, the company’s attention was drawn to stories circulating in the media, which it claimed were designed to misrepresent the facts of an ongoing legal matter. Zenon clarified that the case in question stems from an agency fee related to the attempted purchase of an aircraft. The aircraft deal was eventually taken over by the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON). The company explained that the Court of Appeal is currently tasked with determining both the question of liability and the validity of an ex parte order of interim attachment, which it emphasized concerns a property not belonging to Zenon but to a third party.
The company stressed that its Victoria Island headquarters had not been seized by any order of the Court of Appeal. It further alleged that the circulating reports were part of a broader scheme to tarnish the reputation of its chairman, Mr. Femi Otedola. The statement claimed that the publication of such reports was intended to exert undue pressure and blackmail him into settling a matter that remains sub judice.
Zenon described the publications as an “extra-judicial attempt to extort money” and insisted that there was no basis for the claim that its property was taken over. The company reaffirmed that it continues to operate from its headquarters without disruption.
Earlier reports had indicated that the Lagos Division of the Court of Appeal, on June 26, 2025, granted an interim order of attachment on Zenon’s property located at 7, Tiamiyu Savage Street, Victoria Island, Lagos. The order was reportedly connected to a dispute with a British national, Mr. James Lloyd-Jennings, over the alleged debt of N7.2 billion.
The court order, as reported, read partly: “Upon reading the Motion Ex-parte dated and filed on the 16th day of June, 2025, and the affidavit deposed to by Uylosa Erhabor on the 16th day of June, 2025, it is hereby ordered as follows: 1. That the application is granted as prayed pending the determination of the Motion on Notice which is fixed for 8/7/25. 2. The Appellant and 2nd Respondent to be duly served before that date.”
Additionally, a statement by Mr. Lloyd-Jennings revealed that the Appeal Court directed Zenon, as well as the general public, to refrain from tampering with or dealing in any way with the said property. Failure to comply, the statement warned, would attract legal consequences.
Despite this, Zenon Petroleum maintains that the property at the center of the controversy is not its own and that reports suggesting otherwise are false. The company urged the public to disregard the claims and await the outcome of the legal proceedings at the appellate court.
