Economy
NNPC Raises Concerns Over Oando-Eni Acquisition Deal
By Adedapo Adesanya
The reported deal between Oando Plc and Italian giant, Eni, may hit a regulatory hurdle as the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) said it is yet to confirm the authenticity of the agreement for the acquisition of Nigerian Agip Oil Company Limited (NAOC) assets.
This was contained in a letter reference E&P/MD/0523 dated September 4, addressed to the Managing Director, Nigerian Agip Oil Company Limited, and signed by the Managing Director, NNPC Exploration and Production Limited (NEPL), Mr Ali Zarah.
The NNPC letter reads: “Our attention has been drawn to various reports circulating on different media platforms in relation to an alleged divestment of NAOC’s participating interest in OMLs 60, 61, 62 and 63 to Oando Oil Limited (OOL).
“A duly signed press statement allegedly emanating from OOL dated 4 September 2023 affirms the fact that NAOC has assigned its entire twenty (20) per cent participating interest in the said OMLs to OOL.
“Whilst we are yet to confirm the authenticity of the said divestment, we would like to note that the purported assignment, if true, would have the following far-reaching contractual/legal implications in relation to the Joint Operating Agreement (JOA) dated July 1991 governing the operations of the NAOC/NEPL/OOL Joint Venture.”
The letter explained that clause 19.1.1 of the J0A provides that “No party may assign or transfer its interest or any part thereof without the prior written consent of the other parties, which consent shall not be unreasonably withheld.”
By virtue of this provision, it said, a party seeking to transfer part or the whole of its participating interest in the Joint Venture is obligated to seek the prior written consent of the other parties.
In this instance, it said, NAOC did not inform NEPL of any proposed assignment of its participating interest to OOL or any other party neither did NAOC seek and obtain the mandatory pre-divestment written consent and approval from NEPL in accordance with Clause 19.1.1. of the JOA.
“It is imperative for you to note that failure to obtain NEPL’S prior written consent and approval with regard to the alleged transfer of your interests in the joint assets constitutes a grave breach of the terms of the JOA and NEPL reserves its rights in relation to the said breach-including NEPL’s entitlement to invalidate the purported assignment to OOL,” it said.
It noted that under the terms of the JOA, assignment of interest has implications on the transfer of operatorship.
“Clause 24.1(i)(c) of the JOA provides that the operator shall cease to be the operator and shall be removed by the Non-operators if the operator assigns or otherwise disposes of, other than to an affiliate, all its participating interest.”
Furthermore, it said, Clause 2.6.1 provides that in the event of cessation of operatorship arising from the above circumstance, the parties shall appoint one of the Non-operators as successor operator.
“We have highlighted the above provisions of the JOA to underscore the point that the purported assignment, even if valid should by no means translate to transfer of operatorship to OOL If NAOCs divestment turns out to be valid, it will become incumbent on NEPL and OOL to decide on a successor operator.
“Please note that as holders of sixty (60) per cent participating interest in the NEPL/NAOC/OOL JV, we are indeed concerned that the entire purported assignment was executed without due compliance with the terms of the JOA.
“We expect that all parties to the JOA will observe and comply with the terms of the JOA.
“In view of the foregoing, we request NAOC’s confirmation to NEPL the authenticity or otherwise of the reported divestment to enable us to determine our next steps with regard to the management/operations of the assets,” the letter reads.
Business Post had reported that the agreement between companies is expected to clear the way for Oando to acquire 100 per cent of the shares of NAOC, which has interests in four onshore blocks and two onshore exploration leases in the country.
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.
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