Vice chairman of ND-Western E&P Limited Dr. Layi Fatona has brokered peace between founding chairman of Seplat Energy Dr. ABC Orjiako and founding CEO Austin Avuru.
Fatona, who is a friend and senior industry colleague of the former partners, recently met with them to settle their rift.
Orjiako and Avuru founded Seplat in 2010 and took it public in 2014 in a dual listing on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) now Nigerian Exchange Group (NCX) and the London Stock Exchange (LSE).
They fell apart in August 2022 following a court injunction by an Abuja High Court presided over by Justice SB Belgore which put a stop to Avuru’s planned retirement dinner.
The dinner was supposed to feature the unveiling of three of his books titled My Entrepreneurship Journey, A Safe Part of Hands and Politics, Economics & the Nigerian Petroleum Industry.
Claimants representing Orjiako had insisted that portions of the books maligned him and the company.
Avuru who retired as Seplat CEO in August 2021 has been waging a legal battle to vacate the injunctions.
Latona’s intervention is aimed at reaching an out-of-court settlement by the parties.
