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 Dipo Olowookere
It was a good day for the stock market in Nigeria as it appreciated by 0.79 per cent on Friday to bring the year-to-date return to 0.66 per cent.
This was influenced by renewed interest across most of the sectors of the market, though the insurance index declined by 2.15 per cent when trading activities ended for the session.
Business Post reports that the banking counter appreciated by 1.97 per cent, the consumer goods space grew by 0.70 per cent, the industrial goods sector gained 0.09 per cent, and the energy counter closed flat.
Yesterday, the All-Share Index (ASI) increased by 810.26 points to 103,598.46 points from the preceding day’s 102,788.20 points and the market capitalisation by N497 billion to N63.645 trillion from Thursday’s N63.148 trillion.
Chellaram was the biggest price gainer on Friday after it chalked up 10.00 per cent to trade at N4.07, Guinness Nigeria also appreciated by 10.00 per cent to N77.00, SCOA Nigeria improved by 10.00 per cent to N3.96, Transcorp Power jumped by 7.96 per cent to N349.80, and Lasaco Assurance went up by 7.19 per cent to N3.28.
Conversely, Neimeth was the biggest price loser as it shed 9.88 per cent to N3.10, John Holt declined by 9.78 per cent to N8.30, International Energy Insurance depleted by 9.74 per cent to N1.76, Sovereign Trust Insurance fell by 9.40 per cent to N1.06, and Austin Laz lost 9.00 per cent to close at N1.82.
As for the activity chart, a total of 576.4 million stocks valued at N9.0 billion in 11,546 deals compared with the 394.4 million stocks worth N22.8 billion traded in 12,160 deals in the preceding session, indicating a rise in the trading volume by 46.15 per cent, and a decline in the trading value and number of deals by 60.53 per cent and 5.05 per cent.
Secure Electronic Technology was the busiest equity with 202.2 million units worth N151.8 million, Nigerian Breweries traded 42.1 million units valued at N1.3 billion, Japaul exchanged 34.6 million units for N79.7 million, Access Holdings sold 32.2 million units valued at N807.0 million, and Sovereign Trust Insurance traded 17.0 million units worth N18.3 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange recorded a 0.42 per cent gain on Friday, January 24 after three equities ended on the advancers’ chart at the close of business.
Nipco Plc gained N15.01 during the trading day to close at N165.11 per share versus N150.10 per share of the preceding session, Okitipupa Plc added N4.79 to end the session at N52.69 per unit compared with Thursday’s trading value of N47.90 per unit, and Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc expanded by 80 Kobo to trade at N24.00 per share, in contrast to the N23.30 per share it was sold a day earlier.
The gains recorded by these stocks pushed the value of the bourse higher by NN7.41 billion to N1.775 trillion from the N1.767 trillion recorded in the preceding session and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) grew by 6.93 points to wrap the session at 3,133.20 points compared with 3,120.13 points recorded in the previous session.
Yesterday, the price of FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc went down by 92 Kobo to end the session at N38.58 per share, in contrast to the previous day’s N39.50 per share.
The volume of securities traded in the session decreased on Friday by 95.9 per cent to 16.3 million units from 407.4 million units, the value of shares traded yesterday slumped by 97.4 per cent to N10.2 million from N391.2 million units, and the number of deals declined by 23.3 per cent to 23 deals from 30 deals.
Impresit Bakolori Plc was the most active stock by value (year-to-date) with 406.5 million units worth N386.1 million, followed by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc with 4.3 million units valued at N170.4 million, and Geo-Fluids Plc with 9.1 million units sold for N44.3 million.
Impresit Bakolori Plc was also the most active stock by volume (year-to-date) with 406.5 million units worth N386.1 million, trailed by Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc with 26.3 million units sold for N6.3 million, and Geo-Fluids Plc with 9.2 million units valued at N44.3 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira extended its recent gaining spree by 1.12 per cent or N17.39 on the US Dollar at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Friday, January 24.
Yesterday, the local currency was traded in the official market at N1,531.20/$1 compared with the preceding trading day’s value of N1,548.59/$1.
The recent appreciation aligns with expectations that the Naira will appreciate in the first quarter of the year, backed by continued policy support by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), with the latest being the launch of the FX Code due next week to enhance transparency in the market.
Also, the domestic currency improved its value against the Pound Sterling in the spot market on the last trading day of the week by N8.97 to quote at N1,903.24/£1, in contrast to Thursday’s exchange rate of N1,912.21/£1 and against the Euro, it gained N8.72 to finish at N1,605.17/€1 versus the preceding day’s N1,613.89/€1.
In the same vein, the domestic currency appreciated against the American Dollar in the parallel market yesterday to sell for N1,660/$1 compared with the N1,665/$1 it was traded a day earlier.
In the cryptocurrency market, there was profit-taking following earlier euphoria around US President Donald Trump’s ambitious “Stargate Project” announcement, which is a $500 billion commitment to enhancing the US AI infrastructure.
Crypto commentators believe this signals a shift toward reduced oversight with the pledge unveiled on Tuesday, bringing together tech giants OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank with an initial commitment of $100 billion, scaling to $500 billion over four years.
Solana (SOL) dipped by 4.9 per cent to trade at $247.14, Ethereum (ETH) dropped 2.8 per cent to $3,290.29, Dogecoin (DOGE) fell by 2.4 per cent to $0.3488, and Cardano (ADA) slid by 2.1 per cent to $0.9763.
Further, Ripple (XRP) went down by 1.9 per cent to $3.11, Binance Coin (BNB) shrank by 0.7 per cent to $687.71, and Bitcoin (BTC) declined by 0.6 per cent to $104,369.28, while Litecoin (LTC) appreciated by 3.9 per cent to $121.63, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.
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