Nestoil Limited has refuted circulating reports alleging that Nestoil and Neconde have been placed under receivership, describing the publication as false, misleading, and an attempt to sway ongoing legal proceedings involving FirstBank Trustees and FBNQuest Merchant Bank.

In a statement, the company’s Head of Legal, Abimbola Attitebi, explained that the plaintiffs’ ex-parte request seeking judicial recognition of their “purported receiver-manager” was rejected by the court.

He clarified that all applications seeking court confirmation of the alleged receivership—filed by the plaintiffs on behalf of a consortium of secondary lenders led by FirstBank—remain pending before the Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos.

Attitebi stressed that any report claiming that Nestoil or Neconde is currently under receivership is false, prejudicial, and amounts to contempt of court.

He added that an unconfirmed receiver-manager appointment has no legal authority to assume control of the companies’ assets or freeze accounts belonging to Nestoil, Neconde, or their directors.

According to him, the plaintiffs and their purported receiver-manager “cannot blow hot and cold,” noting that Nigerian law forbids any form of self-help while a matter is before the court.

“Having submitted themselves to the jurisdiction of the court, the plaintiffs must await the court’s final determination of their suit seeking judicial recognition of the alleged receivership and related reliefs,” the statement concluded.