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MONDAY, MARCH 27, 2017• T H I S D AY
NEWSXTRA
Arik Air Asks Court to Disqualify AMCON’s Receiver Manager Davidson Iriekpen Arik Air last Friday told the Federal High Court in Lagos that the process leading to
the take over of the airline by the Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) was improper. AMCON had on February
Oil Swap Under-deliveries: Ontario Offers to Settle NNPC with Oghara Tank Farm Chineme Okafor in Abuja Ontario Oil and Gas Limited, which is one of the three oil marketing firms reportedly owing the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) financial refunds for under-delivery of products in the defunct crude for product swap regime has offered to repay the corporation what it owes it with its petroleum products tank farm in Oghara, Delta State. But the corporation might have rejected the offer on the basis that the actual value of the tank farm in Oghara would not be enough to repay the total amount owed the NNPC by the company. THISDAY yesterday gathered from a top placed source in the NNPC that so far, Ontario has not made any concrete commitment to settle the outstanding obligation to the corporation. The source explained that the tank farm offer was perhaps the most tangible option Ontario had but that NNPC’s rejection has left it with no commitment yet. “Ontario doesn’t have money now, they said if we could take their tank farm in Oghara but when we valued it, it was under what they are owing and they have not showed any sign of repayment, only Aiteo and Televeras have done that,” said the NNPC
source. The disclosure by the source also coincided with a statement from the Group General Manager, Public Affairs of the NNPC, Mr. Ndu Ughamadu, which explained that so far, two of the companies involved in the reconciliation exercise namely Aiteo Energy Resources and Televeras Group of Companies have registered their commitment to settle all outstanding obligations. NNPC stated in the statement that already Televeras has agreed to make a tranche payment of $17.2 million, but unlike Aiteo and Televaras which have made firm commitment to the recovery process, it was yet to obtain any such commitment from Ontario. The corporation noted that nonetheless, negotiation on the repayment with Ontario would progress, and that it would achieve full recovery of the outstanding $184 million crude-swap-product under-deliveries as well as the full value of stock of its missing petrol in Capital Oil depot which it said was 82 million litres amounting to over N11 billion. NNPC also said it would provide regular information on its ongoing efforts to sanitise its record books through the painstaking reconciliation of the transactions executed during the defunct swap regime.
8, 2017 announced the take over of Arik Air. The corporation said it took over the airline to save it from collapse and in the best interest of the general public, workers, creditors and other interest groups in the aviation sector. A legal practitioner, Mr. Oluseye Opasanya (SAN) of the law firm of Olaniwun Ajayi LP, was appointed as the receiver manager of Arik Air Limited following its takeover. By an exparte application on February 8, AMCON secured an injunction restraining Arik Air’s “shareholders, directors, creditors, managers, officers, employees, servants, consultants, agents, representatives, privies” from
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has expressed optimism that the United States dollar would crash further this week as it plan to carry out further interventions in the interbank market. Also, following its intervention through wholesale forex auction last Thursday, the CBN at the weekend revealed that of the $100million earlier offered at the interbank market to meet customers’ demands, authorised dealers were only able to pick $81.347million after an initial bid for $91million. Commenting on the offer, the acting Director of Corporate Communications at the CBN, Isaac Okorafor, attributed the inability of authorised dealers to pick up the entire offer of the CBN to increasing dollar supply and sense of apprehension among dealers who anticipate
a further crash in the rate of the dollar. He reiterated the determination of the bank to sustain its current interventions in the market. According to him, “those who doubt the capacity of the Bank to sustain the intervention in the forex market are beginning to have a change of mind.” Okorafor also confirmed the plan to inject more forex into the market. According to him, the move underscored the commitment of the CBN to sustain the tempo of liquidity in the interbank market for the sake of different categories of genuine end-users. He therefore urged authentic prospective customers to freely approach their respective banks with relevant requirements to apply for the purchase of foreign exchange, assuring that the banks had adequate supplies to meet genuine needs. Okorafor also warned forex
Koku argued that by virtue of Rule 17 of Professional Conduct of Legal Practitioners 2007, neither Ajayi nor any other lawyer from the law firm of Olaniwun Ajayi LP could appear in a case where Opasanya is a plaintiff. Opposing the preliminary objection, however, Ajayi argued that there was a distinction between Opasanya and the law firm of Olaniwun Ajayi LP where Opasanya works and there was no law stopping anyone from the law firm from representing Opasanya. Besides, Ajayi also filed a preliminary objection challenging the locus standi of Koku’s clients to file the preliminary objection.
He argued that they were not parties in the suit in question which AMCON and Opasanya filed against Arik and the Inspector-General of Police. He described them as interlopers who should not be heard and urged Justice Mohammed Idris who is hearing the case to dismiss the preliminary objection by Koku’s clients. Citing a plethora of authorities, Ajayi said the law firm of Olaniwun Ajayi LP and Opasanya were two different entities. He urged the court to dismissed Arik Air’s objection. After hearing both preliminary objections, the presiding judge, Justice Idris, adjourned the case till May 15, 2017 for ruling.
STRATEGIC MEETING
L-R: Chief Operating Officer, Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF), Owen Omogiafo; CEO, Parminder Vir; Founder, Tony Elumelu; Selection Committee member, Nimi Akingugbe; and another member, Martin Eigbike, during the selection committee’s meeting where 1,000 new entrepreneurs for the 2017 TEF Entrepreneurship Programme were selected and announced in Lagos...weekend
CBN Upbeat about Further Naira Appreciation Obinna Chima
interfering Opasanya’s power to manage Arik. But four persons who were aggrieved by the court order - Sir Joseph ArumemiIkhide, Chris Ndule, Dr. Michael Arumemi-Ikhide and Sangowawa Olubiyi filed a preliminary objection through their lawyer, Mr. Babajide Koku (SAN). They accused the lawyer representing AMCON and Opasanya, Prof. Kayinsola Ajayi (SAN), of engaging in professional misconduct and urged the court to void all the processes so far filed by Ajayi on behalf of AMCON and Opasanya. The grounds of their objection was that Ajayi and Opasanya are both lawyers practising in the law firm of Olaniwun Ajayi LP.
dealers against engaging in acts capable of disrupting the current smooth operations of the forex market, stressing that the CBN would penalise any organisation found guilty of bending the rules. Findings showed that the US dollar traded between N390-N395 to the dollar at some parallel market points in Lagos at the weekend. CBN, in keeping with its determination to increase liquidity in has so far flooded the forex market with an estimated US$2 billion in cash and currency forwards since February. This amount does not include its daily intervention of $1.5 million on the interbank market. Owing to this, the naira exchange rate, which depreciated by 76 per cent on the parallel market in 2016 due to scarcity of the greenback, has appreciated by about 27 per cent in the last one month since the new policy was announced.
2016 Budget: Adeosun Puts Capital Releases at N1tn Ndubuisi Francis in Abuja
the figure in an interactive session with members of the House of The Minister of Finance, Mrs. Representatives Tactical Committee on Recession in her office in Kemi Adeosun, has put total capital releases to federal Abuja. The statement noted that Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) for the 2016 the amount was released for various projects, including budget at N1 trillion. The figure, the finance minister the commencement of the said, represented the highest ever construction of a dual standard budgetary releases in the nation’s railway line that would link annual funding for capital projects. Lagos and Kano, rehabilitation “So far, N1trillion has been of roads, expanding irrigation released on capital and this is facilities to boost agriculture the highest so far in the history and the upgrading of aviation of this country. With the current infrastructure nationwide. She said the components of stability in oil price and the return of normalcy in Niger Delta, I the releases included aggregate am sure we will do more this releases to the MDAs of N870, 055,792, 283.00 billion as at year (2017),” she said. However, the minister was the end of February 2017 silent on how much of the N1 and additional releases of N65,393,920,000. trillion has been cash-backed. Others were Manual Authority According to a statement released by the Director to Incur Expenditure (AIEs) (Information), Mr. Salisu Na’inna in February 2017 in the sum Dambatta, the minister disclosed of N11,179,173,711.42 and an
additional Manual AIEs worth N45,804,709, 077.20 as at March 13, 2017. Adeosun noted that the overall capital releases totalling N992,433, 595,071.42 had impact on the Nigerian economy, by creating jobs, stimulating economic activities in communities and upgrading infrastructure, thereby improving the well-being of Nigerians. Adeosun pointed out that contractors returning to project sites around the country had employed workers, contributed to economic growth and improved the well-being of Nigerians in line with the strategic objectives of the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari. According to her, “We are determined to transform the economy and this is why we are focused on capital expenditure. If we have our rail, road and power, then we will be able to generate jobs and prosperity.”