Economy
Japaul Operations Under Serious Threat
**As Access Bank Gets Court Order to Seize Properties
By Dipo Olowookere
If urgent steps are not taken, Japaul Oil & Maritime Services Plc, one of the companies listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), may not be able to conduct its normal business interests.
This is because Access Bank Plc, another publicly quoted firm, has obtained a Mareva judgment to virtually take control of the company.
In suit No: FHC/L/CS/29/19, Justice C. J. Aneke of the Federal High Court sitting in the Lagos granted the lender “An Order for the immediate Arrest and detention of the Vessels MV JAPAUL A TUGBOAT AND MV DOMINON (MV PINA) TUGBOAT, THE VESSELS JD-1 DREDGER and JD 11 DREDGER the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th Defendants (the mortgaged properties) anywhere they may be found within the Nigerian territorial waters within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit.
The judge also granted the bank, “An ORDER OF MANDATORY PRESERVATIVE INJUNCTION is made restraining the 3rd Defendant, JAPAUL MINES & PRODUCTS LIMITED, JAPAUL OIL & MARITIME SERVICES PLC AND PAUL ABIODUN JEGEDE, OWNERS OF JAPAUL A TUGBOAT AND MV DOMINION (MV PINA) TUGBOAT, THE VESSELS JD-1 DREDGER AND JD-11 DREDGER the 1st,2nd, 3rd, and 4th Defendants (the mortgaged properties) from registering any change or charges or mortgages to the ownership of the 1st and 2nd Defendants pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit.”
In addition, the financial institution got, “An ORDER OF MAREVA INJUNCTION restraining the 3rd Defendant; JAPAUL MINES & PRODUCTS LIMITED, JAPAUL OIL & SERVICES PLC and PAUL ABIODUN JEGEDE, OWNERS OF JAPAUL A TUGBOAT AND MV DOMINION (MV PINA) TUGBOAT, THE VESSELS JD-1 DREDGER AND JD-11 DREDGER the 1st, 2nd 3rd and 4the Defendants herein, their agents, officers, assigns from operating the account maintained with the banks listed in schedule hereto including issuance of cheques, bank drafts, cash withdrawals or anything howsoever that would cause any sum of money to be removed from the said account pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit.”
In a report, Proshare said, “The Mareva order made it impossible for the company to operate its accounts and sustain its activities as a going concern; the consequence of which threatened the jobs of hundreds of workers employed by the company.
“While this was at play, the listed company represented that it met its minimal requirements as a listed entity; yet the market was not availed of this information; especially as it relates to market being properly apprised of the situation and the potential contingent liabilities appropriately priced into market valuations. This is a matter we intend to interrogate in subsequent reviews on the development as it relates to the issue of market disclosure and corporate transparency.
“Far more pertinent must be the discovery that the company followed through on the complaint procedure put in place by financial regulators on matters of this type, as a means of market friendly resolution of banking excess charges with material consequence on profitability (including shareholder value). The firm represents that when such a formal complaint was made; the regulators advised them to “stay on the queue” as several cases of this nature was pending.
“This alleged response from a market regulator requires some deep reflections as it undermines the integrity of timely problem resolution mechanisms put in place to build confidence in the market and promote a veritable ‘ease of doing business’ climate.”
Japaul claimed in the court papers that it had approached Access Bank to complain about the exorbitant charges it noticed in its corporate account with the bank after an internal financial audit. The company requested that the excess charges be reversed and duly credited back into its account.
The bank declined and insisted that Japaul was in debt to the bank, and therefore, should pay up on its debt first.
While Japaul accepted indebtedness, it, however insisted that to keep the books clean and its records with the bank tidy; Access Bank should show good faith by conducting a reconciliation of the forensic report dated July 23, 2018 and reverse undisputed excess bank charges thereon; and use the amount credited to its account to (partly) offset amounts outstanding in respective of its loan.
The court papers showed no indication of this being done and indeed infers that Access Bank refused to oblige Japual’s request and went ahead to freeze the company’s account in December 2018.
This was further exacerbated when the bank, in response to the suit instituted by Japaul, approached another court in the same judicial division to seek for, and obtain an order to seize (arrest and detain) the assets (equipments) of the firm, freeze the account of the company and that of its Chairman and founder, Mr. Paul Abiodun Jegede on January 15, 2019.
The company subsequently sought redress in the same courts over what it saw as a breach of good faith between itself and its banker.
As a result of the legal confrontation, for four months (approx.) in 2019, Japaul and its Chairman were denied access to either the corporate account of the listed entity or/and that of the Chairman personally (having been a guarantor of the loan); thereby placing the company in dire operating conditions even while the substantive suit was yet undetermined.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The federal government, the 36 states of the federation and the 774 local government areas have received N1.727 trillion from the Federal Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) for December 2024.
The funds were disbursed to the three tiers of government from the revenue generated by the nation in November 2024.
At the December meeting of FAAC held in Abuja, it was stated that the amount distributed comprised distributable statutory revenue of N455.354 billion, distributable Value Added Tax (VAT) revenue of N585.700 billion, Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL) revenue of N15.046 billion and Exchange Difference revenue of N671.392 billion.
According to a statement signed on Friday by the Director of Press and Public Relations for FAAC, Mr Bawa Mokwa, the money generated last month was about N3.143 trillion, with N103.307 billion used for cost of collection and N1.312 trillion for transfers, interventions and refunds.
It was disclosed that gross statutory revenue of N1.827 trillion was received compared with the N1.336 trillion recorded a month earlier.
The statement said gross revenue of N628.972 billion was available from VAT versus N668.291 billion in the preceding month.
The organisation stated that last month, oil and gas royalty and CET levies recorded significant increases, while excise duty, VAT, import duty, Petroleum Profit Tax (PPT), Companies Income Tax (CIT) and EMTL decreased considerably.
As for the sharing, FAAC disclosed that from the N1.727 trillion, the central government got N581.856 billion, the states received N549.792 billion, the councils took N402.553 billion, while the benefiting states got N193.291 billion as 13 per cent derivation revenue.
From the N585.700 billion VAT earnings, the national government got N87.855 billion, the states received N292.850 billion and the local councils were given N204.995 billion.
Also, from the N455.354 billion distributable statutory revenue, the federal government was given N175.690 billion, the states got N89.113 billion, the local governments had N68.702 billion, and the benefiting states received N121.849 billion as 13 per cent derivation revenue.
In addition, from the N15.046 billion EMTL revenue, FAAC shared N2.257 billion to the federal government, disbursed N7.523 billion to the states and transferred N5.266 billion to the local councils.
Further, from the N671.392 billion Exchange Difference earnings, it gave central government N316.054 billion, the states N160.306 billion, the local government areas N123.590 billion, and the oil-producing states N71.442 billion as 13 per cent derivation revenue.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange recorded a 0.65 per cent gain on Friday, December 13, boosted by three equities admitted on the trading platform.
On the last trading session of the week, Okitipupa Plc appreciated by N2.70 to settle at N29.74 per share versus Thursday’s closing price of N27.04 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc added N2.49 to end the session at N42.85 per unit compared with the previous day’s N40.36 per unit, and Afriland Properties Plc gained 50 Kobo to close at N16.30 per share, in contrast to the preceding session’s N15.80 per share.
Consequently, the market capitalisation added N6.89 billion to settle at N1.062 trillion compared with the preceding day’s N1.055 trillion and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) gained 19.66 points to wrap the session at 3,032.16 points compared with 3,012.50 points recorded in the previous session.
Yesterday, the volume of securities traded by investors increased by 171.6 per cent to 1.2 million units from the 447,905 units recorded a day earlier, but the value of shares traded by the market participants declined by 19.3 per cent to N2.4 million from the N3.02 million achieved a day earlier, and the number of deals went down by 14.3 per cent to 18 deals from 21 deals.
At the close of business, Geo-Fluids Plc was the most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with a turnover of 1.7 billion units worth N3.9 billion, followed by Okitipupa Plc with the sale of 752.2 million units valued at N7.8 billion, and Afriland Properties Plc with 297.3 million units sold for N5.3 million.
In the same vein, Aradel Holdings Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis with the sale of 108.7 million units for N89.2 billion, trailed by Okitipupa Plc with 752.2 million units valued at N7.8 billion, and Afriland Properties Plc with a turnover of 297.3 million units worth N5.3 billion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira appreciated further against the United States Dollar at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) by N1.50 or 0.09 per cent to close at N1,533.00/$1 on Friday, December 13 versus the N1,534.50/$1 it was transacted on Thursday.
The local currency has continued to benefit from the Electronic Foreign Exchange Matching System (EFEMS) introduced by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) this month.
The implementation of the forex system comes with diverse implications for all segments of the financial markets that deal with FX, including the rebound in the value of the Naira across markets.
The system instantly reflects data on all FX transactions conducted in the interbank market and approved by the CBN.
Market analysts say the publication of real-time prices and buy-sell orders data from this system has lent support to the Naira in the official market and tackled speculation.
In the official market yesterday, the domestic currency improved its value against the Pound Sterling by N12.58 to wrap the session at N1,942.19/£1 compared with the previous day’s N1,954.77/£1 and against the Euro, it gained N2.44 to close at N1,612.85/€1 versus Thursday’s closing price of N1,610.41/€1.
At the black market, the Nigerian Naira appreciated against the greenback on Friday by N30 to sell for N1,650/$1 compared with the preceding session’s value of N1,680/$1.
Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market was largely positive as investors banked on recent signals, including fresh support from US President-elect, Mr Donald Trump, as well as interest rate cuts by the European Central Bank (ECB).
Ripple (XRP) added 7.3 per cent to sell at $2.49, Binance Coin (BNB) rose by 3.5 per cent to $728.28, Cardano (ADA) expanded by 2.4 per cent to trade at $1.11, Litecoin (LTC) increased by 2.3 per cent to $122.56, Bitcoin (BTC) gained 1.9 per cent to settle at $101,766.17, Dogecoin (DOGE) jumped by 1.2 per cent to $0.4064, Solana (SOL) soared by 0.7 per cent to $226.15 and Ethereum (ETH) advanced by 0.6 per cent to $3,925.35, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.
-
Feature/OPED5 years agoDavos was Different this year
-
Travel/Tourism8 years ago
Lagos Seals Western Lodge Hotel In Ikorodu
-
Showbiz2 years agoEstranged Lover Releases Videos of Empress Njamah Bathing
-
Banking6 years agoSort Codes of GTBank Branches in Nigeria
-
Economy2 years agoSubsidy Removal: CNG at N130 Per Litre Cheaper Than Petrol—IPMAN
-
Banking2 years agoFirst Bank Announces Planned Downtime
-
Sports2 years agoHighest Paid Nigerian Footballer – How Much Do Nigerian Footballers Earn
-
Technology4 years agoHow To Link Your MTN, Airtel, Glo, 9mobile Lines to NIN