Economy
Group Calls for Audit of SEC Finances Under Gwarzo
** Accuses FG, Anti-Graft Agencies of Stalling Probe
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
An alarm has been raised by a human right, good governance and non-government organization known as Campaign Against Impunity in Nigeria over alleged attempts to surreptitiously close investigations against the suspended Director General of Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Mr Mournir Haliru Gwarzo.
Speaking on Thursday in Lagos at a media briefing, the group said it found it curious that weeks after its sister organisation sent a formal petition to President Muhammadu Buhari, the leadership of the National Assembly and the anti-corruption agencies, not a single arrest has been made so far.
The group also urged the Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, to order a thorough audit of the finances of the commission.
Recall that the Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership (CACOL) had petitioned the President, National Assembly and security agencies, accusing the embattled SEC boss of paying himself N104.8 million as severance package.
While addressing newsmen yesterday at the Rights House, CDHR Secretariat, Ikeja, Lagos, popular human rights activist and leader of the Campaign Against Impunity in Nigeria team, Comrade Shina Loremikan, noted that his group had followed with keen interest issues revolving around allegations of gross abuse of office and official recklessness levelled against Mr Gwarzo.
Comrade Loremikan said, “We find it disturbing that apart from the initial invitation and questioning of Mr Mounir Gwarzo for just a few hours by the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC), nothing has been heard by the public on the status of the investigation.
“Indeed, we must ask, how come no arrest has been made by any of the anti-corruption agencies on this matter?”
According to Comrade Loremikan, It is in view of the lukewarm attitude of the government and the anti-corruption agencies to this issue that “we hereby urge the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to quickly make public the outcome of its ongoing investigation into the activities of Mr Mournir Haliru Gwarzo’s as the Director General of the Securities and Exchange Commission.
“The EFCC is in possession of all supporting documents on the allegations which are also at our disposal. Why is it taking the anti-corruption agencies this long to determine the ownership of the following companies?”
On January 2, 2013, Mr Gwarzo was appointed an Executive Commissioner in SEC for a four-year tenure by the then administration of President Goodluck Jonathan.
Before the end of his four-year term, Mr Gwarzo was promoted by same government as the Director General of the commission on May 22, 2015.
Mr Gwarzo allegedly ordered the payment of a severance package of the sum N104,851,154.94 to himself.
Mr Loremikan said the standing rule in the civil service provides that severance benefits can only be paid to an employee who has concluded his or her service and has completely disengaged from service and not to an employee who was promoted within the commission as is in the case of Mr Gwarzo.
The Comrade, at the briefing, asked Mr Gwarzo to tell the anti-corruption agencies if he paid himself a severance package or not? If he awarded contracts to his own companies and others with links to himself his wife and some of his cronies using the privilege of his office or not?
He further asked it Mr Gwarzo can deny the veracity of the incorporation records with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) that the companies said to belong to him and his cronies indeed belong to them?
“Why is it taking the anti-corruption agencies this long to determine the ownership of the following companies?” he queried also.
Comrade Loremikan said Campaign Against Impunity in Nigeria and Nigerians also want to know if Mr Gwarzo, his wife and some directors of SEC are owners of the following companies: (1.) Outbound Investment Ltd, RC NO. 807317 (2.) Medusa Investments Limited, RC NO. 326829 (3.) Northwind Environmental Services. REG NO BN2389176 (4.) Micro-Technologies LTD RC NO. 173805 (5.) Tida International Ltd RC NO. 26414 (6.) Outlook Communications (7.) Acromac Nig. Ltd RC NO. 10687864 (8.) Balfort International Investment Ltd RC NO. 109153 (9.) Interactiven Worldwide Nigeria Ltd RC NO. 779442.
Recall further that a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and leading human rights activist, Mr Festus Keyamo, had earlier warned against recent attempts to sweep the Mr Gwarzo investigation under the carpet by powerful individuals.
Mr Loremikan said at the conference on Thursday that Nigerians want the probe to ascertain whether or not Mr Gwarzo paid himself severance benefits of N104.8 million after his elevation to from Executive Commissioner to DG despite not having completed his tenure on his previous position.
Concluding, Comrade Loremikan said, “Considering the likelihood that a lot more acts of impunity may have been committed unchecked under the arrangement in which Mr Gwarzo functioned as the DG of SEC without checks from a Board, the Campaign Against Impunity in Nigeria calls on the Finance Minister, Mrs Kemi Adeosun to order a thorough audit of the finances of the commission.
“We also urge the Minister to stand firm and not buckle under any pressure by the campaign of impunity being sponsored by Mr Gwarzo against her person.
“The entire process smells of an attempt to cover impunity with blackmail. We therefore demand that Mrs Kemi Adeosun should make public the report of the Administrative Panel put in place to investigate the allegations against Mr Gwarzo.
“She should also direct her office to forward the report to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC),” Mr Loremikan told journalists.
By Adedapo Adesanya
TotalEnergies EP Nigeria has signed a Sale and Purchase Agreement with Vaaris for the divestment of its 10 per cent non-operated interest in the Renaissance JV licences in Nigeria.
The Renaissance JV, formerly known as the SPDC JV, is an unincorporated joint venture between Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (55 per cent), Renaissance Africa Energy Company Ltd (30 per cent, operator), TotalEnergies EP Nigeria (10 per cent) and Agip Energy and Natural Resources Nigeria (5 per cent), which holds 18 licences in the Niger Delta.
In a statement by TotalEnergies on Wednesday, it was stated that under the agreement signed with Vaaris, TotalEnergies EP Nigeria will sell its 10 per cent participating interest and all its rights and obligations in 15 licences of Renaissance JV, which are producing mainly oil.
Production from these licences, it was said, represented approximately 16,000 barrels equivalent per day in company’s share in 2025.
The agreement also stated that TotalEnergies EP Nigeria will also transfer to Vaaris its 10 per cent participating interest in the three other licences of Renaissance JV which are producing mainly gas, namely OML 23, OML 28 and OML 77, while TotalEnergies will retain full economic interest in these licences, which currently account for 50 per cent of Nigeria LNG gas supply.
Business Post reports that the conclusion of the deal is subject to customary conditions, including regulatory approvals.
“TotalEnergies EP Nigeria has signed a Sale and Purchase Agreement with Vaaris for the sale of its 10 per cent non-operated interest in the Renaissance JV licences in Nigeria.
“Under the agreement signed with Vaaris, TotalEnergies EP Nigeria will sell to Vaaris its 10 per cent participating interest and all its rights and obligations in 15 licences of Renaissance JV, which are producing mainly oil. Production from these licences represented approximately 16,000 barrels equivalent per day in the company’s share in 2025.
“TotalEnergies EP Nigeria will also transfer to Vaaris its 10 per cent participating interest in the 3 other licenses of Renaissance JV, which are producing mainly gas (OML 23, OML 28 and OML 77), while TotalEnergies will retain full economic interest in these licenses, which currently account for 50 per cent of Nigeria LNG gas supply. Closing is subject to customary conditions, including regulatory approvals,” the statement reads in part.
The development is part of TotalEnergies’ strategies to dump more assets to lighten its books and debt.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The trading licence of Monument Securities and Finance Limited has been revoked by the regulatory arm of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Group Plc.
Known as NGX Regulations Limited (NGX Regco), the regulator said it took back the operating licence of the organisation after it shut down its operations.
The revocation of the licence was approved by Regulation and New Business Committee (RNBC) at its meeting held on September 24, 2025, a notice from the signed by the Head of Market Regulations at the agency, Chinedu Akamaka, said.
“This is to formally notify all trading license holders that the board of NGX Regulation Limited (NGX RegCo) has approved the decision of the Regulation and New Business Committee (RNBC)” in respect of Monument Securities and Finance Limited, a part of the disclosure stated.
Monument Securities and Finance Limited was earlier licensed to assist clients with the trading of stocks in the Nigerian capital market.
However, with the latest development, the firm is no longer authorised to perform this function.
Economy
NEITI Advocates Fiscal Discipline, Transparency as FG, States, LGs Get N6trn in Three Months
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) has called for fiscal discipline and transparency as data showed that federal government, states, and local governments shared a whopping N6 trillion Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) disbursements in the third quarter of last year.
In its analysis of the FAAC Q3 2025 allocation, the body revealed that the federal government received N2.19 trillion, states received N1.97 trillion, and local governments received N1.45 trillion.
According to a statement by the Director of Communication and Stakeholders Management at NEITI, Mrs Obiageli Onuorah, the allocation indicated a historic rise in federation account receipts and distributions, explaining that year-on-year quarterly FAAC allocations in 2025 grew by 55.6 per cent compared with Q3 of 2024 while it more than doubling allocations over two years.
The report contained in the agency’s Quarterly Review noted that the N6 trillion included 13 per cent payments to derivative states. It also showed that statutory revenues accounted for 62 per cent of shared receipts, while Value Added Tax (VAT) was 34 per cent, and Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL) and augmentation from non-oil excess revenue each accounted for 2 per cent, respectively.
The distribution to the 36 states comprised revenues from statutory sources, VAT, EMTL, and ecological funds. States also received additional N100 billion as augmentation from the non-oil excess revenue account.
The Executive Secretary of NEITI, Mr Sarkin Adar, called on the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) FAAC, the National Economic Council (NEC), the National Assembly, and state governments to act on the recommendations to strengthen transparency, accountability, and long-term fiscal sustainability.
“Though the Quarter 3 2025 FAAC results are encouraging, NEITI reiterates that the data presents an opportunity to the government to institutionalise prudent fiscal practices that will protect the gains that have been recorded so far in growing revenue and reduce vulnerability to commodity shocks.
“The Q3 2025 FAAC results are encouraging, but windfalls must be managed with discipline. Greater transparency, realistic budgeting, and stronger stabilisation mechanisms will ensure these resources deliver durable benefits for all Nigerians,” Mr Adar said.
NEITI urged the government at all levels to ensure the growth of Nigeria’s sovereign wealth and stabilisation capacity, by committing to regular transfers to the Nigeria Sovereign Wealth Fund and other related stabilisation mechanisms in line with the fiscal responsibility frameworks.
It further advised governments at all levels to adopt realistic budget benchmarks by setting more conservative and achievable crude oil production and price assumptions in the budget to reduce implementation gaps, deficit, and debt metrics.
This, it said, is in addition to accelerating revenue diversification by prioritising reforms that would attract investments into the mining sector, expedite legislation to modernise the Mineral and Mining Act, support reforms in the downstream petroleum sector, as well as the full implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) to expand domestic refining and value addition.
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