By Adedapo Adesanya

The proposed sale of a majority stake of Lafarge Africa Plc to a Chinese firm, Huaxin Cement Limited, hit another snag as a Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos, dismissed a preliminary objection filed by the cement maker.

Justice Lewis Allagoa on Thursday ruled that the court has jurisdiction to hear the suit brought by Strategic Consultancy Limited, a Nigerian company and minority shareholder in Lafarge Africa.

Recall that the Nigerian Senate had also blocked the sale, citing issues around Chinese influence in March 2025.

Yesterday, the judge rejected Lafarge’s motion to strike out the case for lack of jurisdiction, marking a significant legal setback for the 66-year old cement giant.

“The 1st and 2nd defendants’ motion objecting to the Court’s jurisdiction is hereby dismissed,” Justice Allagoa stated in his ruling delivered on Thursday.

The suit, filed by Strategic Consultancy Limited, is challenging Lafarge’s planned sale of 83.81 per cent of its shares; currently held by Holcim Group to Huaxin Cement, a foreign company based in China.

The plaintiff alleges that the sale was conducted secretly and without the knowledge or involvement of minority shareholders.

According to court filings, Strategic Consultancy argued that the planned sale violates provisions of the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission Act, and the Nigerian Investment Promotion Act.

“The purported sale was done surreptitiously and without affording Strategic Consultancy Limited and other minority shareholders the opportunity to acquire the shares,” the plaintiff stated in its originating summons.

Represented by senior advocate Mr D.A. Awosika (SAN), Strategic Consultancy also contended that Huaxin Cement is not registered in Nigeria, thus making the transaction unlawful under Nigerian regulations.

Lafarge, represented by Mr Babatunde Fagbohunlu (SAN), and Holcim Group, represented by Mr Uzoma Azikiwe (SAN), had urged the court to dismiss the case on grounds that it lacked the jurisdiction to entertain it. However, Justice Allagoa disagreed.

In a related development, the judge also granted the plaintiff’s request to join Caricement BV (Netherlands) and Associated International Cements Ltd (England) as 5th and 6th defendants respectively, having been identified by the respondents as the actual shareholders involved in the transaction.

“It is hereby ordered that the persons sought to be joined herein and hereby joined as prayed, and leave to issue and serve the Originating Summons out of jurisdiction is hereby granted,” Justice Allagoa ruled.

The case has been adjourned to June 11, 2025, for further proceedings.

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Chairman of BUA Group, Mr Abdul Samad Rabiu, has pledged to further crash the prices of rice and other food items to alleviate high food costs in Nigeria.

Speaking to State House Correspondents after meeting with President Bola Tinubu on Thursday, Mr Rabiu said BUA Foods keyed into that policy and was able to import quite a lot of wheat, maize and rice.

The billionaire commended President Tinubu for granting waiver on imported food items, saying that his “foresight” helped crash food prices in the country.

Recall that in July 2024, Mr Tinubu’s administration announced the suspension of customs duties on imported food items to stem food inflation.

“At the time food prices were really very high last year. For example, the price of rice was about N100,000 or thereabout per 50 kilo bag. The flour was about N80,000 per bag and maize was about N60,000 per 50 kilo bag, and pasta above N20,000 per Carton. So, what we did was, we keyed into that policy and BUA was able to import quite a lot of wheat, maize and rice.

“The moment the shipment started coming, we started processing, we crushed the prices of some of these commodities. And today I’m happy to inform you that the price of rice is about N60,000 from what it was last year at N110,000. Flour is today N55,000 Naira per 50 kilo bag.

“Maize is about N30,000. And this happened because of Mr President’s foresight and vision by introducing that one-off duty waiver for a period of six months, and with that, we’ve been able to bring down the prices of these commodities,” Mr Rabiu said.

He also said that the Rice Millers Association has come together to address the issue of hoarding by some companies, adding that the association will not allow any of its members to hoard rice.

“What we are doing as rice Millers is that we want to ensure that rice Millers are not buying and hoarding paddy, although at the end of the day, it’s quite difficult to stop that. But what is happening is that once they know that there is rice availability imported, because BUA has imported enough rice to last us until the end of the year…”

He also noted that BUA foods will continue to support the efforts of the government in ensuring that food prices are down.

By Adedapo Adesanya

The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange returned to the green territory on Thursday with a 0.36 per cent growth, which increased the market capitalisation of the bourse by N6.58 billion to N1.846 trillion from the previous day’s N1.840 trillion.

In the same vein, the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) went up by 11.23 points during the trading session to 3,153.87 points from the previous session’s 3,142.64 points.

Data showed that four securities were responsible for the jump recorded by the unlisted securities market yesterday, overpowering the decline suffered by a stock.

FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc topped the gainers’ group after its value increased by N3.24 to close at N40.98 per unit versus the previous closing value of N37.74 per unit, Geo-Fluids Plc added 21 Kobo to settle at N2.31 per share compared with midweek’s price of N2.10 per share, UBN Property Plc gained 20 Kobo to end at N2.16 per unit versus N1.96 per unit, and Food Concepts Plc grew by 12 Kobo to finish at N1.41 per share, in contrast to Wednesday’s value of N1.29 per share.

On the flip side, the share price of Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) went down by 99 Kobo to trade at N25.99 per unit versus N26.98 per unit.

The volume of trades during the trading day was down by 82.2 per cent to 304,374 units from 1.7 million units, the value of transactions fell by 91.6 per cent to N5.2 million from N61.7 million, and the number of deals decreased by 52.5 per cent to 29 deals from 61 deals.

At the close of business, Impresit Bakolori Plc was the most active stock by volume (year-to-date) with 536.9 million units worth N524.7 million, followed by Geo-Fluids Plc with 266.4 million units valued at N470.6 million, and Okitipupa Plc with 153.6 million units sold for N4.9 billion.

Okitipupa Plc retained its position as the most active stock by value (year-to-date) with 153.6 million units valued at N4.9 billion, trailed by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc with 21.7 million units sold for N833.4 million, and Impresit Bakolori Plc with 536.9 million units worth N524.7 million.