Sayyu Dantata, one of Nigeria’s wealthiest families, funded the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited for the purchase of oil blocks from Chevron Corporation, Bloomberg reports. A subsidiary of MRS Holdings Ltd provided the NNPC $300 million to buy two shallow water licenses divested by Chevron, Bloomberg said, quoting the state-owned company’s most recent financial statements. It said the funding offered insight into how the firm could back its ambitious expansion plans The transaction was completed in May and the financing is secured against crude from producing fields within NNPC’s portfolio, it said. According to Bloomberg, the forward sale agreement was concluded between NNPC and Bahamas-registered Bestaf Funding Ltd, according to the financial statements and an emailed response from Umar Ajiya, NNPC chief financial officer. Bestaf, it said, is a group of companies that is part of MRS, a conglomerate belonging to the family of Sayyu Dantata, the 53-year-old younger half-brother of Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest person. According to the report, Bestaf companies develop real estate, manufacture lubricants, store shipping containers and provide support vessels. MRS and Bestaf didn’t respond to requests for comment, Bloomberg said. Recently transformed into a fully commercial venture, the NNPC, it stated, is looking to grow its presence throughout Nigeria’s energy sector. The company purchased Chevron’s 40 percent operating stakes in the licenses — oil mining leases (OMLs) 86 and 88 — after preempting negotiations between the oil major and Conoil Producing Ltd, it said. The NNPC will repay Bestaf over 4.5 years and it is expected to deliver 8,000 barrels of crude per day to Dantata’s company throughout the duration of the contract between the parties, Bloomberg said, quoting the company’s financial statements. The oil is the “sole repayment guarantee” and will be lifted by an MRS unit operating as Bestaf’s trading agent, Ajiya told Bloomberg. The proceeds, he said, shall be deposited into a designated account held at the African Export–Import Bank “for regular repayment”. Afreximbank loaned Bestaf the $300 million to fund NNPC’s asset purchase, Ajiya said. Afreximbank and a Bestaf company signed a memorandum of understanding a year ago for $1 billion to support the firm’s commercialisation of the gas deposits in OML 86 and 88 under an agreement with the NNPC, Bloomberg said. The report added that Afreximbank did not respond to a request for comment.

  Peru’s new President Dina Boluarte was scrambling to form a government on Thursday, a day after the country was thrown into political chaos by the dramatic arrest of her predecessor following an alleged coup attempt. The South American country’s first ever female leader asked the opposition for a truce as she tried to end the turmoil sparked by Pedro Castillo, who had attempted to dissolve parliament and rule by decree. Castillo’s efforts were quickly stamped out by lawmakers who voted him out of office in a dizzying day of high drama, by the end of which former vice-president Boluarte had emerged as the country’s new head of state. She took the oath of office within two hours of the impeachment vote, donning the presidential sash in front of Congress and vowing to serve out the rest of Castillo’s term, until July 2026. In her first words as president, she called for “national unity” and urged lawmakers to put aside their ideological differences, in a tacit reference to the confrontation between Castillo’s leftist government and the right-wing dominated Congress. The 60-year-old lawyer must now form her first ministerial cabinet, which will be an early indication of whether she is likely to survive in office. Her initial appointments will signal the support she can muster for her government. If she is unable to rule, calls will grow for her resignation or the calling of early elections. – Dizzying hours – Earlier in the day Castillo had faced his third impeachment attempt since the former rural schoolteacher unexpectedly won power from Peru’s traditional political elite 18 months ago. In a televised address, the 53-year-old announced he was dissolving the opposition-dominated Congress, imposing a curfew and would rule by decree for at least nine months. As criticism poured in over the speech, lawmakers defiantly gathered earlier than planned to debate the impeachment motion and approved it with 101 votes out of a total of 130 lawmakers. Castillo had left the presidential palace after the vote with the intention of seeking asylum in Mexico’s embassy before he was arrested, according to a police report published by local media. By Wednesday night, Castillo had been transferred to a police facility in east Lima, where graft-convicted former president Alberto Fujimori — himself removed by Congress in 2000 — is serving out his sentence. Authorities said they had caught him red-handed staging a power grab. Hundreds of protesters, some of whom supported the former president and others who opposed him, took to Lima’s streets after his impeachment. “We are tired of this corrupt government that was stealing from day one,” said 51-year-old Johana Salazar. The European Union expressed its support for the “political, democratic and peaceful solution adopted by the Peruvian institutions,” and urged “all actors to a dialogue that ensures stability,” according to a statement. – ‘She is alone’ – Without her own political party in Congress, Boluarte is facing an uphill battle to stay in power. “She has no party in Congress, she is alone,” Peru’s former president Ollanta Humala told local television on Wednesday night. “She does not have the tools to govern, she should call for an early election,” added Humala, who was in office from 2011 to 2016. “Today’s truce will last a month or maybe more, but then the country’s big problems will come to the fore.” But right-wing political heavyweight Keiko Fujimori, the daughter of ex-president Fujimori, said her party would support the new president. “Let’s hope that the president appoints a broad-based cabinet, a very good cabinet and we must all do everything possible to make it work well,” she tweeted.

  The naira on Wednesday exchanged at 445.83 to the dollar at the Investors and Exporters window, a depreciation of 0.01 per cent, compared with the 445.80 it exchanged on Tuesday. The open indicative rate closed at N444.25 to the dollar on Wednesday. An exchange rate of N452 to the dollar was the highest rate recorded within the day’s trading before it settled at N445.83. The naira sold for as low as 426 to the dollar within the day’s trading. A total of N127.78 million was traded at the official Investors and Exporters window on Wesnesday. Meanwhile, Hassan Oaikhenan, a professor of Economics at the University of Benin, Benin-City, has attributed the depreciation of the naira to excess naira in circulation chasing the few dollars. He urged the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to limit the supply of the naira using the currency redesign as an opportunity to take firm hold of the supply of the naira. “The way to go, therefore, is that now that the denominations are redesigned, then it is up to the CBN to as much as possible, limit, control, manage, tighten the quantity of the redesigned currency. “Especially the higher denominations in circulation have to be properly managed so that at the end of the day, this phenomenon of too much naira chasing few dollars can be addressed. “If that is sustainably done, then we will see an improvement of the exchange rate of the naira to the dollar,” he said. (NAN)

  The Federal Government recorded deficit spending of N593 billion in August this year, representing seven per cent higher than N554.21 billion recorded in the previous month. The increased deficit was driven by 4.2 per cent, month-on-month MoM, increase in capital expenditure which moderated the impact of a 1.7 per cent, MoM, increase in FG’s revenue as well as 10.8 per cent, MoM decrease in debt service in August The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN disclosed this in its Economic Report for August released yesterday, which showed that FG recorded N639.47 billion as Retained revenue in August, representing 1.7 per cent month-on-month MoM increase from N629.03 billion in July. Aggregate expenditure also rose 4.2 per cent, MoM, to N1.23 trillion from N1.18 trillion in July. The increase in aggregate expenditure was driven by a 4.2 per cent, MoM, increase in Capital expenditure which rose to N281.78 billion from N179.27 billion in July. However, debt service fell N10.8 per cent, MoM, to N436.60 billion from N489.80 billion in July. “The overall fiscal balance recorded a deficit on account of higher capital expenditure. At N593.09 billion, the provisional fiscal deficit of the FGN rose by 7.0 per cent when compared with the level in July 2022 but declined by 3.2 per cent relative to the monthly budget of N612.52 billion”, the CBN stated. Meanwhile, revenue into the Federation Account fell by 9.8 per cent, MoM in August due to fall in FGN Independent revenue. The CBN stated: “Gross federation receipts at N1.31 trillion was below the target of N1.58 trillion by 17.0 per cent. Relative to the collection in July 2022, non-oil receipts at N826.90 billion, weakened by 9.8 per cent, due largely to the decline.

  The Bayelsa State Governor, Douye Diri, has cautioned political actors to desist from character assassination and blackmail in their quest for power in the state, as political activities for the 2023 general elections intensify. Diri said it was appalling how some politicians in the state had resorted to maligning the character of opposition party contestants and members in the guise of political campaigns. He spoke during the service of songs in honour of late Mama Bebeapere Agbedi, mother of the member representing Sagbama/Ekeremor Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Fred Agbedi, at the Chief DSP Alamieyeseigha Memorial Banquet Hall in Yenagoa. The governor, in a statement issued by his Chief Press Secretary, Daniel Alabrah, said elections would come and go but the people would remain brothers and sisters. According to him, the best path to living a long and fulfilled life was showing love and appreciation for one another. He emphasised that as long as power comes only from God, nobody could overturn what had been divinely ordained for the state. Diri said, “Political times are here and there is so much in the air – propaganda, lies and blackmails. You do not know which one to believe anymore. That was not the kind of life mama lived. “The fact you want a political office should not make you to malign the character of another person. Elections will come and go, as I always say, but we will all remain brothers and sisters. For me, the best path to tread and best way towards living the kind of life that we are celebrating today is to continue to show love and appreciation. No matter who is blocking it, when God says this is yours, nobody can stop it.” While extolling the virtues of the matriarch who lived 111 years, he described her as a quintessential woman, who made a lot of sacrifice for mankind. In a sermon titled, ‘A Good Name’, the coordinating pastor, Bishop Dotimi Egbegi, said for one to be spoken well off after death, the individual must have a good name while alive. He noted that people could only amend their ways while alive and by living for others in order to bequeath legacies that cannot be altered. Giving a testimony about his mother, Agbedi said she instilled discipline in him and his siblings as well as investing meaningfully in their educational advancements. The House of Reps member described his late mother as a principled but humble woman, a trait that he said is also found in him. He thanked the governor for demonstrating love and support towards him and his family by his presence at the event to honour their matriarch. Also present at the solemn gathering were the Deputy Governor, Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, past and serving members and colleagues of the reps member from the National Assembly, state legislators, chairman of the state Peoples Democratic Party, Solomon Agwana, members of the state executive council, politicians from different political parties as well as top government functionaries and members of the clergy.

  The on Thursday denied reports of a forced abortion campaign involving at least 10,000 pregnancies of women and girls in the country’s North-East region. “It’s outright nonsense…it’s not true,” the Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky Irabor, said at the 61st session of the State House Ministerial briefing organised by the Presidential Communications Team at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja. In an investigative report published on Wednesday, December 7, 2022, London-based news agency, Reuters, asserted that “Since at least 2013, the Nigerian military has conducted a secret, systematic and illegal abortion programme in the country’s North-East, ending at least 10,000 pregnancies among women and girls. According to the report, many of the women involved in the programme had been kidnapped and raped by terrorists of the Boko Haram extraction. Citing witnesses accounts, Reuters said resisters were “beaten, held at gunpoint or drugged into compliance.” Fielding a question on the issue, Irabor said:, “That is outright nonsense. Their allusion is news to me. It never occurred. I never saw anything like that from Maiduguri down to Maimalamari Cantonment where I lived that is a major hospital for our personnel and their family. I am disappointed to say the least. So it is not true. “I was informed by the Director of Defense Information about a mail from Reuters requesting an interview with me. And he gave me a letter written by one Alexander making allegations that have now been published by Reuters. “I simply said he should go back to the person and answer their questions but I’m not going to dignify such a report. “You’re saying the military since 2013 has been engaged in a planned abortion programme and he said that is part of the government’s design. In that letter, he said that 12,000 abortions have been conducted. But in the published report, we saw ‘at least 10,000’.” The CDS also revisited the infamous shooting at the Lekki Toll Gate in 2020, insisting that the Nigerian military is not interested in “killing its own people.”

  The Nigerian military on Thursday said although it is facing constant pressure to compromise the 2023 elections, Nigerians can be rest assured that it would remain neutral. The Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky Irabor, disclosed this to journalists at the 61st session of the State House Ministerial Briefing organised by the Presidential Communications Team at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja. According the him, military personnel face pressure through inducements, but the armed forces would remain apolitical as it is taking the necessary measures to ensure compliance with the directive of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) to maintain neutrality. Irabor said personnel are being trained to be more professional even as the rules of engagement have been codified for distribution before, during and after the elections. The CDS also revealed that several military rescue operations and negotiations have led to the freeing of at least 300,000 people from the hands of their abductors since 2014 while refugees who fled the North-East due to insurgency, have started to return. He said that former insurgents, now being trained, would graduate in February next year before their reintegration into the society. He added that the military is recruiting more personnel into all branches of the security services. The goal, Irabor said, is to increase the number of on-the-ground personnel to combat insurgency and banditry and curtail oil theft which will eventually lead to increased crude oil production. Details shortly…

  Suspected political thugs early on Thursday morning invaded the residence of Senator Lee Maeba in the GRA, Phase 3 axis of Port Harcourt, Rivers State. Maeba is the chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party Presidential Campaign Council in Rivers State. A source told our correspondent that the hoodlums came from a nearby street, shot sporadically at his entrance, and eventually broke into the former Senator’s compound. They reportedly destroyed about five cars, including a jeep, while three persons in the compound, including Senator Maeba’s relative scampered for safety. When our correspondent visited the scene about 10:50am, a team of operatives of the Department of State Services and policemen along with the Senator were seen driving into the residence.

  The House of Representatives has asked the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to halt the implementation of the new cash withdrawal policy slated for January 9, 2023 pending compliance with the provisions of the Act establishing the bank. The House also summoned CBN Governor Godwin Emiefele in accordance with the provisions of the Central Bank Act to brief the Chamber on several policies of the bank in recent times. There was anger in the House on Thursday as members took turns to condemn the new cash withdrawal policy, saying it will grossly affect small businesses and the economy since most rural communities don’t have access to banks. However, following a point of order raised by Mark Gbillah on the provisions of the Central Bank Act, the House directed the CBN Governor to appear before the House on Thursday, December 15, 2022 to brief the House on why the policy should be allowed to stand. Sponsor of the motion, Magaji Da’u Aliyu, said the new policy by the CBN, which limits daily cash withdrawal to N20,000 daily should not be allowed to stand as it will adversely affect the Nigerian people, especially those running small-scale businesses. He said while the country was trying to come to terms with the decision to redesign the currency, the CBN was coming up with yet another policy that will adversely affect the masses without proper advocacy.