Economy
Governor Diverts N500m Refund to Repay Personal Loan
By Dipo Olowookere
EFCC recovers cash from firm
NGF: we did nothing wrong
Consultant: we broke no law
Detectives have recovered N500 million allegedly diverted by a Governor from the London-Paris Club loan refund.
The Governor diverted the N500 million (out of his state’s share of the N19 billion first tranche) to a mortgage bank but the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) tracked and secured the cash.
Besides, two firms have refunded N220 million of the N3.5 billion traced to some aides of Senate President, Mr Bukola Saraki.
But the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) insists it was not within its purview to determine how Melrose General Services Limited spent its share of the N3.5 billion consultancy fees.
The company yesterday said it was not involved in any N3.5 billion scandal.
It said it executed the consultancy awarded it in line with global best practice.
EFCC traced N2.2 billion payment to another consultant, which allegedly gave the yet unnamed governor N500 million.
The Governor directed that the cash should be transferred to a mortgage bank where he was indebted to the tune of N800 million.
The Governor used the “cash-at-hand” to defray his debts with a waiver by the mortgage company.
A source close to the investigation said, “Of the N19 billion, we discovered that a consultant brought by the North-West Governor was paid N2.2 billion. From the N2.2 billion, the Governor got N500 million.
“He then instructed that the N500 million be transferred to the mortgage bank where he had borrowed money to buy two properties in 2013 and was unable to pay. The debts accumulated to N800 million but with N500 million cash-at-hand, the governor renegotiated the debts and used the cash to defray his liabilities.”
According to the source, the mortgage bank decided to refund the N500 million to the EFCC.
“We have all the evidence of the recovery in our records,” he said.
The two companies which refunded about N220 million out of the N3.5 billion consultancy fees in which some aides of the Senate President were implicated, are Wasp Networks and Thebe Wellness Services.
The Nation stumbled on a document about the investigation. It states: “That Mr Bosun Ottun, the Managing director of Xtract Energy Services, a company that deals in forex trading confirmed that Wasp Networks Limited transferred N170,000,000 on the 16th January 2017 to Xtract Energy Services Limited’s FCMB account for the purchase of $350,000, which he later transferred into Wasp Networks Stanbic IBTC US dollar domiciliary account.
“That Wasp Networks has returned to the EFCC the sum of N200 million paid to the company by Mr Robert Mbonu of Melrose General Services.
“That Mr Robert Mbonu through Melrose General Services Company paid N20 million to Thebe Wellness Services.
“That Mr Richardson A. Ajayi, the Managing Director of Thebe Wellness Services confirmed that N20 million from Melrose General Services Company was a loan from Mr Robert Mbonu, which was to be used as an investment in Thebe Wellness Services.”
On the jewellery which cost about N92,685,000($183,000 then) of the N3.5 billion refund, the EFCC said the former Executive Director of Heritage Bank, Mr Robert Mbonu, could not say the exact date the items will be delivered.
The document added, “That Mr Robert Mbonu, through Melrose General Services Company Limited Access Bank account transferred N92,685,000 to Acarast Communication Limited in exchange for $183,000, which was later transferred to Bhaskar Devji Jewellers in Dubai for purchase of jewellery.
“That Mr Robert Mbonu has not taken delivery of the jewellery and couldn’t provide a date when the jewellery he paid for would be delivered.”
But, the NGF yesterday said it had no business with how Melrose spent the N3.5 billion consultancy fees it paid to the company.
It, however, confirmed that the company was one of its consultants on the London-Paris Club loan refund.
http://thenationonlineng.net/governor-diverts-n500m-refund-repay-loan/
By Adedapo Adesanya
Four securities weakened the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 1.95 per cent on Friday, erasing N41.17 billion from the bourse, which had its market capitalisation at N2.567 trillion compared with the previous session’s N2.618 trillion.
In the same vein, the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) decreased at the close of business by 85.28 points to 4,277.07 points from 4,362.32 points.
The price decliners were led by 11 Plc, which gave up N20.50 to sell at N200.50 per share compared with the preceding day’s N221.00 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc dropped N16.94 to close at N155.20 per unit versus Thursday’s closing price of N172.14 per unit, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc went down by N2.11 to N84.68 per share from N86.79 per share, and Afriland Properties Plc lost 11 Kobo to end at N16.74 per unit, in contrast to the N16.85 per unit it closed a day earlier.
During the trading day, the value of transactions jumped by 172.1 per cent to N29.9 million from the preceding session’s N10.9 million, and the volume of trades soared by 136.5 per cent to 955,096 units from the previous 403,901 units, while the number of deals went down by 11.4 per cent to 31 deals from 35 deals.
Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units worth N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 68.6 million units sold for N4.7 billion.
GNI Plc also ended the session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units exchanged for N8.4 billion, trailed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units traded for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units transacted for N415.7 million.
By Dipo Olowookere
The last trading session of this week on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited ended on a negative note, with a 0.66 per cent loss on Friday.
This was influenced by sustained selling pressure and cautious trading, which forced investors into profit-taking.
Data obtained by Business Post showed that the energy sector fell by 4.66 per cent, the insurance counter dipped by 2.23 per cent, the consumer goods index depreciated by 0.96 per cent, and the banking segment shed 0.28 per cent, while the industrial goods space remained unchanged.
At the close of business, the All-Share Index (ASI) of Nigeria’s stock exchange went down by 1,531.81 points to 232,049.02 points from 233,580.83 points, and the market capitalisation dropped N983 billion to settle at N148.905 trillion compared with Thursday’s N149.888 trillion.
Aradel was the worst-performing equity after it lost 10.00 per cent to close at N1,417.50. International Energy Insurance slipped by 9.95 per cent to N5.79, Trans-Nationwide Express depreciated by 9.89 per cent to N3.28, eTranzact crashed by 9.79 per cent to N14.75, and UPDC slumped by 9.72 per cent to N28.12.
The best-performing equity for the day was Universal Insurance, which gained 6.32 per cent to close at N1.01, McNichols grew by 5.52 per cent to N8.60, Linkage Assurance expanded by 4.67 per cent to N1.57, NGX Group appreciated by 4.35 per cent to N120.00, and Transcorp increased by 3.62 per cent to N41.50.
As look at the activity level indicated that investors traded 388.7 million stocks worth N18.4 billion in 44,631 deals compared with the 393.7 million stocks valued at N19.2 billion executed in 45,813 deals a day earlier, representing a decline in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 1.27 per cent, 4.17 per cent, and 2.58 per cent, respectively.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira recorded a loss of 82 Kobo or 0.06 per cent against the United States Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Friday, June 26, exchanging at N1,380.93/$1, in contrast to the previous day’s rate of N1,380.11/$1.
Equally, the domestic currency further weakened against the Pound Sterling in the official FX market yesterday by N6.06 to settle at N1,824.90/£1 versus the preceding session’s N1,818.84/£1, and lost N10.74 on the Euro to sell at N1,577 .58/€1 versus N1,566.84/€1.
At the GTBank forex counter, the Naira depreciated against the greenback during the session by N4 to close at N1,387/$1, in contrast to Thursday’s value of N1,383/$1, and at the parallel market, it was unchanged at N1,395/$1.
Interbank FX activity among financial institutions has fluctuated amid a sharp slowdown in forex market interventions by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), as it allows demand and supply to move the market.
Also, a stronger greenback has generally put significant pressure on emerging-market currencies.
Nigeria has accessed the first tranche of a proposed $5 billion derivatives financing arrangement with First Abu Dhabi Bank PJSC, the largest lender in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The $5 billion facility, approved by the National Assembly earlier this year, is part of the federal government’s plan to diversify external financing sources and reduce borrowing costs. Structured as a Total Return Swap with First Abu Dhabi Bank, proceeds are earmarked for refinancing debt and supporting infrastructure financing.
If the proceeds are brought into the country through the official FX market, the transaction will increase the currency reserves or Dollar liquidity.
At the cryptocurrency market, Solana (SOL) grew by 2.2 per cent to $71.92, Cardano (ADA) gained 1.1 per cent to trade at $0.1474, Ripple (XRP) also appreciated by 1.1 per cent to $1.05, Dogecoin (DOGE) expanded by 0.9 per cent to $0.0755, and Ethereum (ETH) improved by 0.4 per cent to $1,578.84.
On the flip side, TRON (TRX) slid 0.6 per cent to $0.3203, Binance Coin (BNB) slumped by 0.3 per cent to $564.33, and Bitcoin fell by 0.2 per cent to $60,219.37, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 each.
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