Television Nigerian

According to reports, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited may have thrown a wrench in the highly publicized deal that would have seen Seplat Energy, an indigenous oil company, buy ExxonMobil’s oil shares.

The first deal between ExxonMobil’s Nigerian unit, Mobil Oil Producing Nigeria Unlimited (MPNU), and industry leaders since the signing of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) in August last year has received praise.

According to reports, the Sale and Purchase Agreement (SPA) to acquire MPNU’s entire share capital was for $1.283 billion, plus up to $300 million in contingent consideration.

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Platforms Africa, a news, business, and leadership publication, reported that the state-owned oil giant had exercised its Right of First Refusal (RFR) on the asset sale.

According to reports, the RFR is included in the Joint Operating Agreement (JOA) of the Joint Venture (JV), which represents NNPC’s position on the planned sale of the shares to Seplat Energy Plc.
Attempts to reach NNPC for comment on the matter were unsuccessful at first, but a top source in the oil company said, “We will address it at the appropriate time.”

However, an anonymous industry source said last night that NNPC’s action could lead to a legal battle between Seplat and the national oil company. According to the source, NNPC does not have the authority to stop Seplat from buying the shares of the multinational oil company.

“Seplat bought ExxonMobil’s shares, not assets,” the source said. While NNPC has pre-emption rights over asset sales, it does not have such rights over stock sales.”

Furthermore, the source explained that, with its current structure, NNPC was no longer a regulator, as it had been in the past, and that “so, the regulator is the one who can intervene in the matter.”

“However, they must check the Production Sharing Contract (PSC) because if they say they are taking over ExxonMobil, they are taking over employees, pensions, and liabilities, not assets,” the source added.

According to reports, NNPC had already informed Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited of its intention to exercise the right of pre-emption on ExxonMobil’s planned sale of its entire onshore and shallow water asset in Nigeria.
However, according to a reliable source, the politics surrounding the deal’s cancellation could significantly derail the new vigor that the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) was supposed to bring to the industry.
It was learned that the NNPC planned to enter into a “strategic management contract” with a company owned by a northerner who works in the oil and gas industry.

According to industry sources, the state-owned oil company, which is the majority shareholder in the joint venture with ExxonMobil, may have exercised its right of first refusal on the assets as part of a new era in which the NNPC Limited’s sole focus will be on long-term profitability.

Following ExxonMobil’s decision to receive bids for their share of the JV, the Mele Kyari-led company had previously communicated its intention to exercise its rights and match any offer made by interested parties for the assets, according to the platform.

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Following that, Seplat Energy submitted a winning bid for the assets, and ExxonMobil and Seplat Energy reached an agreement.
The right of pre-emption gives parties in a joint venture the legal right to be the first to be considered for any planned sale or takeover of assets in the JVs if either party decides to sell them.

Platforms Africa obtained a copy of a letter signed by NNPC’s Group Managing Director, Kyari, and addressed to ExxonMobil, which stated that the company’s share of the assets would be taken over.
“We are aware that you have agreed to divest from onshore and shallow waters joint ventures,” the letter stated, adding, “Clearly, we are interested.”

ExxonMobil had previously stated that the deals were subject to approval and the new NNPC position, implying that the entire sale and purchase agreement between ExxonMobil and Seplat Energy had to be terminated.

Seplat Energy, the winning bidder, had put up more than $1.2 billion for the deal to buy MPNU’s entire share capital plus contingent consideration, and was awaiting ministerial approval before the latest development.

This meant that the state-owned oil company could not pay less than $1.2 billion if it exercised its right of first refusal.

According to the letter, NNPC reiterated that it had already transformed from a corporation to a profit-driven company, and that it now had the capacity to purchase ExxonMobil’s share of the joint venture.
The NNPC recently announced a $5 billion funding agreement with Afreximbank to expand its upstream asset investment in new and existing assets.

The publishers of Africa Oil and Gas Report recently expressed concern about the national oil company’s attempt to crowd out private investors, saying that enough room should be created for some level of investment diversity. That alarm has now proven to be a wakeup call on what appears to be a grab-all attitude.

In response to NNPC’s assertion of pre-emption rights, the magazine’s publisher, Toyin Akinosho, who spoke on Arise News Channel, urged NNPC to make room for entrepreneurs, claiming that the company already has a lot on its plate and is struggling to cope.

“NNPC is in a joint venture with companies that produce at least 45 percent of our crude,” Akinosho said. They already have a lot of material. “Of all the assets in the industry, the assets they operate are the least optimized.”
He wondered why the national oil company was allegedly stifling investment in the sector, while accusing it of grabbing assets all over the country. According to him, the types of partners to whom NNPC may hand over assets are never the most experienced in the field, and the entire idea is to “gift” the assets to a third party.

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“Any excuse that ‘this is being taken over in the interest of the state’ is false. It has implemented Finance and Technical Service Agreements (FTSAs) with companies that it chooses to work the assets in the last three years,” he added.

Dr. Ayotunde Fasunla, chairman of the Nigeria Medical Association’s (NMA) Oyo State chapter, revealed on Thursday that two doctors in the state died of Lassa fever.

This was stated by Fasunla while briefing journalists in Ibadan, the state capital.
“While we thought COVID-19 had done its worst, we are now dealing with another Lassa fever outbreak,” he said.

“We’re also concerned about other health workers who may have unknowingly come into contact with the disease.”

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“We’ve told them to stay in quarantine and report any symptoms of viral haemorrhagic fever.”

He urged state doctors to treat all febrile illnesses with a high level of suspicion.

“Not only for their own health and safety, but also for the sake of the patients and public health, we have instructed our colleagues to be cautious and vigilant at all times.”

Meanwhile, the University College Hospital (UCH) in Ibadan has issued a warning about a Lassa fever outbreak in the state.

“This is to draw the attention of the entire members of staff to the current outbreak of Lassa fever in the country,” UCH management said in a circular.

“Ondo, Edo, and Bauchi are the most affected states, according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).”

“A total of 1,992 suspected Lassa fever cases have been reported in 33 states since the beginning of 2022, primarily in Ondo, Edo, Bauchi, Benue, Taraba, Ebonyi, Oyo, and Enugu States.”

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“As of the 18th of February 2022, there had been 450 confirmed cases, with 86 deaths.” A total of 30 health-care workers have been impacted.”

Reno Omokri, a socio-political activist, has revealed two methods for ending ritual killings and Advanced Fee Fraud, also known as Yahoo Yahoo in Nigeria.

Ritual killings and Yahoo Yahoo, according to Omokri, will end when parents stop having children they can’t care for.

He believes that social vices will be eradicated once parents stop viewing their children as a form of retirement income.

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In-laws must stop using their daughter’s husband as a source of income, according to an ex-aide to former President Goodluck Jonathan.

“For yahoo and rituals to end in Nigeria, two things must happen,” Omokri wrote in a series of tweets.

“Parents must stop having children as a form of old age pension.”

“In-laws should stop looking at their daughter’s husband as a source of income.”

“Yahoo and rituals will not stop if these two things don’t stop!”

Ritual killings have been on the rise in recent years across the country.

The Federal Government announced plans to launch a national sensitization campaign against money rituals in an effort to combat the vices.

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The government expressed concern about the threat that has claimed the lives of many people, particularly women and girls.

Lai Mohammed, the Minister of Information, bemoaned the ritual killings committed “by unscrupulous people, most of them young, who are seeking to get rich at any cost.”

Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, the Vice President, said yesterday that Nigeria was programmed for greater heights because of its citizens’ resilience and great potential.

He also stated that the federal government recognizes the importance of the private sector in delivering value to the Nigerian economy and is committed to maximizing collaboration opportunities in order to usher the country into a more prosperous new decade.

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The vice president, speaking at the official inauguration of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) Bankers House in Abuja, said Nigeria was poised for great things, not only because “it is a nation of great dreamers and great doers,” but also because of the people’s resilience and potential.

“With the continent’s largest market, a growing demography of ambitious, tech-savvy young people, and accelerating regional integration and connection to new markets, Nigeria has been given an unprecedented opportunity to usher the country into a new decade of sustained prosperity.”

“This is an opportunity that we as a government are fully committed to transforming into lived realities for millions of Nigerians across the country.”

“We have soared and risen above our problems every time Nigeria was expected to sink.” We’ve found joy in the midst of despair and the strength to persevere in the face of the most difficult challenges. “The Nigerian spirit continues to be unfazed and bankable,” he added.

“At this critical juncture, realizing the country’s potential will require the careful choreography of government policies that remove every impediment in the way of those determined to pursue their dreams and build businesses,” he said.

In this regard, Osinbajo emphasized the impact of government policies, such as the work of the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) to improve Nigeria’s business environment and economy.

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The vice president stated that the Buhari administration had “aggressively pursued the creation of an environment that allows Nigerian businesses, at every level, to operate without the bottlenecks and drawbacks that have come to characterize their interface with agencies and regulators” over the last six years through PEBEC.

With the launch of PEBEC’s 7th 60-day National Action Plan (NAP 7.0) on the Ease of Doing Business, he added that the government was “building on the progress of these reforms and aggregating lessons from some of the setbacks in their implementation.”

The NAP 7.0, which began on February 7, was scheduled to last until April 7, 2022.

“We will build on our successes in removing regulatory barriers to agro-exports, driving electronic tax filing, and working closely with states to improve their own business environments,” he added.

He also reaffirmed the administration’s commitment to implementing its economic policies in order to improve the lives of Nigerians.

“This largely informs the zeal with which we are implementing our new National Development Plan, 2021-2025,” he says, “a medium-term agenda that seeks, among other things, to generate 21 million full-time jobs and lift 35 million people out of poverty by 2025.”

“The plan commits the government, at all levels, to an investment of about N49.7 trillion, and envisages private sector investment of N298 trillion, making a total of N348 trillion,” the vice president said, emphasizing the importance of “a conscious reliance on private enterprise and initiative” in the plan’s successful implementation.

“A range of fiscal, monetary, and trade measures, including more intentionally promoting productivity and value addition, are expected to support the plan’s implementation,” he added.

In addition, despite “several years of some of the most severe macroeconomic challenges – including the 2008 financial crisis, the oil crises that followed, and an unexpected pandemic, the Nigerian banking industry, owing largely to your outstanding professionalism, has continued to show incredible resilience and growth, contributing about N34.6 trillion to the Nigerian economy,” the vice president stated.

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“In 2021 African tech startups raised over $4 billion in funding, with over 564 startups across the continent solving critical problems in almost every sector,” Osinbajo said, referring to the rise of Nigerian unicorns in recent years. Nigeria accounted for 35% of the total. Nigeria now has six unicorns, or tech companies with a market capitalization of more than one billion dollars. They all started after 2015 and grew in the midst of two recessions.”