Economy
Corruption Has Increased Under Buhari—UK Politician
**Warns Investors to Snub Nigeria
By Dipo Olowookere
A member of the parliament in the United Kingdom, Priti Patel, has warned foreign investors not to invest in Nigeria because the government of President Muhammadu Buhari does not respect “international law and convention, and court decisions.”
In a short op-ed for City AM, London’s first free daily business newspaper, Patel, former secretary of state for International Development in the UK, said there are risks that “businesses will face in Nigeria” if they invest in the country, which prides itself as the largest market in Africa.
The female politician noted that, “Despite the President’s public anti-corruption platform, Transparency International has not seen any reduction in corruption since Buhari took office. In fact, the precise opposite has happened, with Nigeria falling 12 places between the 2016 and 2017 rankings.”
Below is Patel’s Op-Ed:
When the Nigerian finance minister visited London last week, she and her officials came to advertise Nigeria as a country that is open for business.
The minister, Zainab Ahmed, came to promote Nigeria’s $2.8bn Eurobond sale, which follows on from the Nigerian government’s oversubscribed $1bn Eurobonds sale in February 2017.
I am a supporter of economic investment into developing countries – open markets and capitalism have paved the way for poverty reduction around the world.
Many nations in Africa, including Nigeria, have benefited from investment over the years, and Nigeria’s Eurobonds could bring relief to its ongoing economic woes.
Over the last decade, the amount of UK foreign direct investment into Africa has more than doubled from £20.8bn to £42.5bn. This is good news.
However, as with all investments, investors should know of the corrosive effect of corruption, as well as the lack of transparency and associated difficulties of doing business in certain countries.
In Nigeria, the unhappy experience of the firm founded by two Irishmen, Process and Industrial Development (P&ID), is a case in point, and demonstrates the risk that businesses will face in Nigeria.
In 2010, P&ID signed a 20-year contract with the Nigerian government to create a new natural gas development refinery, but the project fell through after the Nigerian government reneged on its contractual commitments. Upon taking office, President Buhari promptly cancelled a compensation settlement, and has done his level best to pretend Nigeria’s obligations to P&ID do not exist.
Since Buhari reneged on this deal, P&ID has undertaken legal efforts to affirm a tribunal award, first decided in London. It also made several attempts in court to force the Nigerian government to respect its obligations.
The most recent court decision at a London tribunal confirmed that the Nigerian government owes P&ID almost $9bn for the initial breach of contract, loss of income, additional costs, and interest accrued after five years of non-payment.
However, the Nigerian government has continued to flout international law and convention, and it refuses to respect the various court decisions.
Investors must consider this long-running scandal and weigh this obstinance against Nigeria’s mishandled economic potential.
Let us not forget that Nigeria is the only member of OPEC that is dependent upon petrol imports to keep the country going. Nigeria is ranked 145th in the world for its ease of doing business, which demonstrates the risks of investment into Nigeria.
Despite the President’s public anti-corruption platform, Transparency International has not seen any reduction in corruption since Buhari took office. In fact, the precise opposite has happened, with Nigeria falling 12 places between the 2016 and 2017 rankings.
President Buhari currently faces serious allegations, which include staging show trials of opponents of a regime that is accused of corruption and graft, while simultaneously shielding his own party members and inner circle.
We should all welcome international efforts to attract international investment into developing economies. However, to do this successfully Nigeria must seriously tackle corruption, rather than use it as a smokescreen. It must honour its obligations to companies like P&ID. Until then, investors inevitably will be very wary of investing in Nigeria.
Economy
Petrol Supply up 55.4% as Daily Consumption Reaches 52.1 million Litres
By Adedapo Adesanya
The supply of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), also known as petrol, increased by 55.4 per cent on a month-on-month basis to 71.5 million litres per day in November 2025 from 46 million litres per day in October.
This was contained in the November 2025 fact sheet of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) on Monday.
The data showed that the nation’s consumption also increased by 44.5 per cent or 37.4 million litres to 52.1 million litres per day in November 2025, against 28.9 million litres in October.
The significant increase in petrol supply last month was on account of the imports by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited into the Nigerian market from both the domestic and the international market.
Domestic refineries supplied in the period stood at 17.1 million litres per day, while the average daily consumption of PMS for the month was 52.9 million litres per day.
The NMDPRA noted that no production activities were recorded in all the state-owned refineries, which included Port Harcourt, Warri, and Kaduna refineries, in the period, as the refineries remained shut down.
According to the report, the imports were aimed at building inventory and further guaranteeing supply during the peak demand period.
Other reasons for the increase, according to the NMDPRA, were due to “low supply recorded in September and October 2025, below the national demand threshold; the need for boosting national stock level to meet the peak demand period of end of year festivities, and twelve vessels programmed to discharge into October, which spilled into November.”
On gas, the average daily gas supply climbed to 4.684 billion standard cubic feet per day in November 2025, from the 3.94 bscf/d average processing level recorded in October.
The Nigeria LNG Trains 1-6 also maintained a stable processing output of 3.5 bscf/d in November 2025, but utilisation improved slightly to 73.7 per cent compared with 71.68 per cent in October.
The increase, according to the report, was driven by higher plant utilisation across processing hubs and steady export volumes from the Nigeria LNG plant in Bonny.
“As of November 2025, Nigeria’s major gas processing facilities recorded improved output and utilisation levels, with the Nigeria LNG Trains 1-6 processing 3.50 billion standard cubic feet per day at a utilisation rate of 73.70 per cent.
“Gbaran Ubie Gas Plant processed 1.250 bscf per day, operating at 71.21 per cent utilisation, while the MPNU Bonny River Terminal recorded a throughput of 0.690 bscf per day during the period. Processing activities at the Escravos Gas Plant stood at 0.680 bscf per day, representing a 62 per cent utilisation rate, whereas the Soku Gas Plant emerged as the top performer, processing 0.600 bscf per day at 96.84 per cent utilisation,” it stated.
Economy
Secure Electronic Technology Suspends Share Reconstruction as Investors Pull Out
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The proposed share reconstruction of a local gaming firm, Secure Electronic Technology (SET), has been suspended.
The Lagos-based company decided to shelve the exercise after negotiations with potential investors crumbled like a house of cards.
Secure Electronic Technology was earlier in talks with some foreign investors interested in the organisation.
Plans were underway to restructure the shares of the company, which are listed on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited.
However, things did not go as planned as the potential investors pulled out, leaving the board to consider others ways to move the firm forward.
Confirming this development, the company secretary, Ms Irene Attoe, in a statement, said the board would explore other means to keep the company running to deliver value to shareholders.
“This is to notify the NGX and the investing public that a meeting of the board of SET held on Tuesday, December 16, 2025, as scheduled, to consider the status of the proposed share reconstruction and recapitalisation as approved by the members at the Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) held on April 16, 2025.
“After due deliberations, the board wishes to announce that the proposed share reconstruction will not take place as anticipated due to the inability of the parties to reach a convergence on the best and mutually viable terms.
“Thus, following an impasse in the negotiations, and the investors’ withdrawal from the transaction, the board has, in the interest of all members, decided to accept these outcomes and move ahead in the overall interest of the business.
“The board is committed to driving the strategic objectives of SEC and to seeking viable opportunities for sustainable growth of the company,” the disclosure stated.
Business Post reports that the share price of SET crashed by 3.85 per cent on Tuesday on Customs Street on Tuesday to 75 Kobo. Its 52-week high remains N1.33 and its one-year low is 45 Kobo. Today, investors transacted 39,331,958 units.
Economy
Clea to Streamline Cross-Border Payments for African Importers
By Adedapo Adesanya
Clea, a blockchain-powered platform that allows African importers to pay international suppliers in USD while settling locally, has officially launched.
During its pilot phase, Clea processed more than $4 million in cross-border transactions, demonstrating strong early demand from businesses navigating the complexities of global trade.
Clea addresses persistent challenges that African importers have long struggled with, including limited FX access, unpredictable exchange rates, high bank charges, fraudulent intermediaries, and payment delays that slow or halt shipments. The continent also faces a trade-finance gap estimated at over $120 billion annually, limiting importers’ ability to access the FX and financial infrastructure needed for timely international payments by offering fast, transparent, and direct USD settlements, completed without intermediaries or banking bottlenecks.
Founded by Mr Sheriff Adedokun, Mr Iyiola Osuagwu, and Mr Sidney Egwuatu, Clea was created from the team’s own experiences dealing with unreliable international payments. The platform currently serves Nigerian importers trading with suppliers in the United States, China, and the UAE, with plans to expand into additional trade corridors.
The platform will allow local payments in Naira with instant access to Dollars as well as instant, same-day, or next-day settlement options and transparent, traceable transactions that reduce fraud risk.
Speaking on the launch, Mr Adedokun said, “Importers face unnecessary stress when payments are delayed or rejected. Clea eliminates that uncertainty by offering reliable, secure, and traceable payments completed in the importer’s own name, strengthening supplier confidence from day one.”
Mr Osuagwu, co-founder & CTO, added, “Our goal is to make global trade feel as seamless as a local transfer. By connecting local currencies to global transactions through blockchain technology, we are removing long-standing barriers that have limited African importers for years.”
According to a statement shared with Business Post, Clea is already working with shipping operators who refer merchants to the platform and is also engaging trade associations and logistics networks in key import hubs. The company remains fully bootstrapped but is open to strategic investors aligned with its mission to build a trusted global payment network for African businesses.
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