Economy
Court Dismisses Fraud Suit against Aiteo’s Benedict Peters
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The fraud allegations against oil entrepreneur and Executive Vice Chairman of Aiteo Group, Mr Benedict Peters, have been described as baseless by a High Court sitting in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja.
Justice Valentine Ashi, while delivering a judgement on Thursday, December 7, 2017, said the earnings of Mr Peters were legitimately acquired.
According to the judge, there was no evidence to support the suggestion that any aspect of his business showed any criminal conduct and as such, the allegations were baseless.
This ruling follows a similar ruling squashing multiple money laundering charges and bribery of election officials indictment against Mr Peters.
A suit was filed before Justice Ashi in suit number FCT/HC/CV/ 0091/ 17, where the Plaintiff, Moses Uyah, alleged that Mr Peters’ acquisition of a number of assets was fraudulent because he was unable to account for income or earnings from which such purchases could have been lawfully funded.
In consequence, he asked the court not only to find that Mr Peters’ acquisitions of the properties were illegitimate; that he was also living above his means and that the funds utilized for the purchases were the proceeds of corrupt as well as illegitimate dealings. Given the criminal acquisitions, he asked the court to forfeit the assets to the Federal Government.
Mr Peters, in response, willingly produced to the court evidence to demonstrate his sound business practices over the past 25 years in the oil and gas industry.
As well, he provided evidence from financial institutions for funding raised over several years which allowed him to invest and conduct business that resulted to the considerable success of Aiteo Group.
Justice Ashi found that on said evidence produced to the court, Mr Peters had established that he had a credible and verifiable means of livelihood; had substantial personal wealth to fund, did legitimately fund the acquisition of the properties identified in the proceedings and therefore could not be accused of living above his means.
He established, in the proceedings, that there was no evidence to support the suggestion that any aspect of his business showed any criminal conduct and as such, the plaintiff’s allegations were baseless.
In dismissing the case, Justice Ashi ruled that the “said assets and properties having been legitimately acquired by the defendant cannot be forfeited to the Government under any circumstances.”
The judge further ruled “restraining any person, security agency or authority from disturbing the defendant’s quiet enjoyment of his assets and properties having been found to be legitimately acquired.”
In upholding Mr Peters’ evidence and contention, the learned judge found that there was no merit in the allegations of criminal conduct relied upon by Uyah and the case as a whole. In doing so, the judge observed “…that in the absence of any specific offence and proof of commission of crime, the defendant legitimately and lawfully acquired the assets and properties, the subject matter of this suit…”
The assets listed include 58 Harley House, Marylebone Road, London worth 2,800,000 million pounds, apartment 4, 5, Arlington Street, London worth 11,800,000 million pounds, Flat 5, 83-86, Prince Albert Road, London worth 3,750,000 million pounds and also other assets of Aiteo Energy Resources worth over $4.023billion.
Also listed by and affected by the judgment are monies in Account No 105277 in FBN Bank (UK) in the name of Mr. B and Mrs. N. Peters, monies in Account No 107127 in FBN Bank (UK) of Walworth Properties Ltd, the sum of 36,674.7 pounds held on behalf of defendant in the client Account of Clyde and Co. LLP , London, the sum of 40,620 pounds held in the correspondent Bank Account at Ghana International Bank, London and shares in Walworth Properties Limited, Rosewood Investments and Colinwood Limited.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) has deregistered more than 400,000 inactive companies from the corporate registry in 2025 as part of reforms aimed at strengthening transparency, protecting the economy and restoring investor confidence.
The Registrar-General of the CAC, Mr Hussaini Magaji, disclosed this on Saturday in Abuja during the commission’s monthly fitness walk, which was organised as part of the activities marking its 35th anniversary.
Mr Magaji said the affected entities were largely companies that had failed to file statutory annual returns for years and were no longer operational, warning that such firms posed serious risks to economic integrity.
He said, “In 2025 alone, we deregistered over 400,000 companies from our records. These were largely companies that had become inactive and failed to meet statutory obligations, including filing annual returns.
“Such entities pose threats to economic operations. Cleaning up the register was necessary to build confidence and ensure that Nigeria has a credible and reliable corporate registry,” he stated.
Mr Magaji explained that a transparent and up-to-date register was critical to attracting both local and foreign investment, as well as preventing the misuse of corporate structures for illicit activities.
The CAC boss described the anniversary fitness walk as symbolic, noting that it reflected the commission’s resilience, teamwork and institutional evolution since its establishment in 1991.
He recalled that the commission began operations as a largely manual agency, once confined to a single office in Garki, Abuja, but has since evolved into a fully digital, end-to-end service provider with global reach.
“The CAC has come a long way, from manual operations in one location to a fully digital organisation. Today, our services are available anywhere, anytime, 24/7. We are the only government agency providing end-to-end digital services,” he stated.
According to him, the commission’s digital transformation has significantly supported the Federal Government’s ease-of-doing-business reforms, eliminating the need for physical visits to CAC offices to register or manage businesses.
“You can register and manage your business from your room without stepping into any CAC office. That is what ease of doing business truly means,” he added.
As part of its support for small businesses, Mr Magaji disclosed that the commission partnered with the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria to facilitate the free registration of 250,000 MSMEs in 2025.
He explained that the registrations were deliberately channelled through SMEDAN to ensure beneficiaries also received training and capacity-building support, adding that improved welfare, timely payment of entitlements and clear career progression had boosted staff morale and service delivery.
By Dipo Olowookere
Investors at the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited have continued to show excitement for the full-year earnings of companies on the exchange so far.
On Friday, Customs Street further appreciated by 1.01 per cent as more organization released their financial statements for the 2025 fiscal year.
During the session, traders continued their selective trading strategy, with the energy sector going up by 2.47 per cent at the close of business despite profit-taking in the banking counter, which saw its index down by 0.11 per cent.
Yesterday, the insurance space grew by 2.16 per cent, the industrial goods segment expanded by 1.70 per cent, and the consumer goods industry jumped by 0.42 per cent.
Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) increased by 1,722.13 points to 171,727.49 points from 170,005.36 points, and the market capitalisation soared by N1.106 trillion to N110.235 trillion from the N109.129 trillion it ended on Thursday.
Business Post reports that there were 59 appreciating stocks and 19 depreciating stocks on Friday, representing a positive market breadth index and strong investor sentiment.
The trio of Omatek, Deap Capital, and NAHCO gained 10.00 per cent each to sell for N2.64, N6.82, and N136.40 apiece, as Zichis and Austin Laz appreciated by 9.98 per cent each to close at N6.72 and N5.40, respectively.
Conversely, The Initiates depreciated by 9.74 per cent to N19.45, DAAR Communications slumped by 7.32 per cent to N1.90, United Capital crashed by 6.55 per cent to N18.55, Coronation Insurance lost 5.71 per cent to quote at N3.30, and First Holdco shrank by 5.53 per cent to N47.00.
The activity chart showed an improvement in the activity level, with the trading volume, value, and number of deals up by 33.77 per cent, 93.27 per cent, and 10.63 per cent, respectively.
This was because traders transacted 953.8 million shares worth N43.1 billion in 51,005 deals compared with the 713.0 million shares valued at N22.3 billion traded in 46,104 deals a day earlier.
Fidelity Bank was the most active with 92.4 million units sold for N1.8 billion, Chams transacted 69.2 million units valued at N310.9 million, Deap Capital exchanged 59.1 million units worth N382.7 million, Access Holdings traded 57.2 million units valued at N1.3 billion, and Tantalizers transacted 48.6 million units worth N228.2 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The value of the Naira contracted against the United States Dollar on Friday by 13 Kobo or 0.01 per cent to N1,366.19/$1 in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) from the previous day’s value of N1,366.06/$1.
According to data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Nigerian currency also depreciated against the Pound Sterling in the same market window yesterday by N2.37 to N1,857.75/£1 from the N1,855.38/£1 it was traded on Thursday, and further depleted against the Euro by 57 Kobo to close at N1,612.52/€1 versus the preceding session’s N1,611.95/€1.
In the same vein, the exchange rate for international transactions on the GTBank Naira card showed that the Naira lost N8 on the greenback yesterday to N1,383/$1 from the previous day’s N1,375/$1 and at the black market, the Nigerian currency maintained stability against the Dollar at N1,450/$1.
FX analysts anticipate this trend to persist, primarily influenced by increasing external reserves, renewed inflows of foreign portfolio investments, and a reduction in speculative demand.
In the short term, stability in the FX market is expected to continue, supported by policy interventions and improving market confidence.
Nigeria’s foreign reserves experienced an upward trajectory, increasing by $632.38 million within the week to $46.91 billion from $46.27 billion in the previous week.
The Dollar appreciation this week appears to be largely technical, serving as a correction to the substantial losses experienced from mid- to late January.
Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market slightly appreciated, with Bitcoin (BTC) climbing near $68,000, up nearly 5 per cent since hitting $60,000 late on Thursday after investor confidence in crypto’s utility as a store of value, inflation hedge, and digital currency faltered.
The sell-off extended beyond crypto, with silver plunging 15 per cent and gold sliding more than 2 per cent. US stocks also fell.
The latest recoup saw the price of BTC up by 4.7 per cent to $67,978.96, as Ethereum (ETH) appreciated by 6.3 per cent to $2,021.10, and Ripple (XRP) surged by 9.5 per cent to $1.42.
In addition, Solana (SOL) grew by 7.3 per cent to $85.22, Cardano (ADA) added 6.1 per cent to trade at $0.2683, Dogecoin (DOGE) expanded by 5.4 per cent to $0.0958, Litecoin (LTC) rose by 5.2 per cent to $53.50, and Binance Coin (BNB) jumped by 2.3 per cent to $637.79, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 each.
-
Feature/OPED6 years agoDavos was Different this year
-
Travel/Tourism9 years ago
Lagos Seals Western Lodge Hotel In Ikorodu
-
Showbiz3 years agoEstranged Lover Releases Videos of Empress Njamah Bathing
-
Banking8 years agoSort Codes of GTBank Branches in Nigeria
-
Economy3 years agoSubsidy Removal: CNG at N130 Per Litre Cheaper Than Petrol—IPMAN
-
Banking3 years agoSort Codes of UBA Branches in Nigeria
-
Banking3 years agoFirst Bank Announces Planned Downtime
-
Sports3 years agoHighest Paid Nigerian Footballer – How Much Do Nigerian Footballers Earn