$2.26 million termination payment to Nexus Energy executive...

$2.26 million termination payment to Nexus Energy executive chairman Michael Fowler stands to become an issue in the escalating battle between he and former chief executive Richard Cottee for the top job at Nexus, according to a report by The Australian.

Mr Cottee seeks to replace Mr Fowler, oust deputy chairman Michael Arnett and return to the board at the company's annual meeting November 17.

Yesterday, Mr Cottee made a call to retail shareholders to force a meeting to return him to the board of directors, however institutional shareholders appeared unready to support the call.

Mr Fowler was a co-founder of Nexus in 2000, and moved from chairman to executive chairman in May 2009, eventually dropping his executive duties in July of this year, only to return to the position of chairman on September 22 when Mr Cottee resigned.

Mr Cottee has made an issue of the $2.26 million termination fee, part of a package of $2.6 million in payments to directors, paid to him for his two-year stint as executive chairman, only to return to the position.

Mr Cottee resigned over a deal on Nexus' Echuca Shoal project in Western Australia, which has prompted the Nexus board to seek an alternative deal ahead of the upcoming AGM, and Mr Cottee claims to have the support of two-thirds of Nexus' institutional shareholders, according to The Australian.