A Federal High Court has ordered Oriental Energy Resources Ltd., the privately held oil company founded by billionaire Muhammadu Indimi, to pay his twin daughters, Ameena and Zara Indimi, a total of $43.51 million in a long-running dividend dispute.
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The ruling represents a major legal victory for the sisters in a case that has exposed deep family divisions and raised questions about shareholder rights in family-owned enterprises.
The court sided with the daughters on the core question of entitlement, a conclusion that recalibrates the balance of power in any negotiations likely to follow the ruling.
The judgment stems from litigation brought by Ameena and Zara, who argued that they were entitled to significant unpaid dividends from Oriental Energy.
According to court filings, the sisters alleged that changes to their shareholding — reducing their stakes dramatically without clear consent — left them owed millions in dividends that were never paid.
They alleged their individual shareholdings were reduced without proper process, effectively stripping them of payouts they say were rightfully theirs.
The ruling handed a significant victory to Ameena and Zara Indimi, who argued they were wrongfully excluded from a dividend pool tied to approximately $435.1 million the company was said to have declared, a sum that implied a combined 10 percent entitlement if their claimed stakes held.
In earlier phases of the case, the sisters acknowledged receiving some dividends but maintained that they had not been properly compensated for their full share of profits generated by the family business. They also sought a formalised 10% stake in Oriental Energy, signalling ambitions for a controlling interest in the company’s future direction.
Indimi, whose wealth and business influence span sectors including oil and gas, infrastructure, and philanthropy, has not publicly commented on the court’s latest ruling.
Oriental Energy has similarly not disclosed details of its financial position or share register, as is typical for private Nigerian upstream companies operating outside mandatory public reporting frameworks.
Oriental Energy is a Lagos-based exploration and production firm with key offshore assets in the Niger Delta and is one of Nigeria’s better-known privately held upstream operators. The company was built over several decades by Indimi, a businessman whose interests span energy and finance.
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