Economy
UK Court Rules Against Nigeria in OPL 245 Sales Case
By Adedapo Adesanya
A court sitting in the United Kingdom has ruled against Nigeria in the $1.7 billion suit against JP Morgan Chase Bank over the transfer of proceeds from the sale of OPL 245.
Judge Sara Cockerill of the Business and Property Courts of England and Wales Commercial Court held on Tuesday that the Nigerian government couldn’t show that it had been defrauded.
The federal government had sued JP Morgan, alleging that the bank “ought to have known” that there was corruption and fraud in the transaction which saw Malabu sell its 100 per cent in OPL 245 to Shell and ENI for $1.1 billion.
During a trial which lasted six weeks, Nigeria argued among other things that the bank acted negligently when it transferred $875 million in funds between 2011 to 2013 from government accounts to Mr Dan Etete, a former Minister of Petroleum who had been convicted of money laundering.
The country sought $1.7 billion as damages including interest for what it identified as “glaring” red flags, including “overwhelming” evidence of fraud and stark warnings from its own compliance staff when it authorized the payments.
The case essentially examined the extent of a bank’s duty of care toward clients, and whether it should have halted payments even if that meant overriding assurances from government officials.
The bank in its defence rejected Nigeria’s claims, maintaining that all due processes were followed and money laundering checks were done, arguing that allegations of fraud only came up after a new government took over in Nigeria.
JPMorgan also argued that it filed suspicious activity reports with enforcement authorities and gained their consent before making the transfers.
In the judgement, Judge Cockerill ruled that the Nigerian government could not prove that it was defrauded, saying it may be that with the benefit of hindsight, “JPMorgan would have done things differently” but declared that “none of these things individually or collectively amount to triggering and then breaching” the bank’s duty of care to its client.
According to the judge, by the time of the 2013 payments, the bank was “on notice of a risk” of fraud.
In its reaction to the judgment, JP Morgan in a statement said, “This judgment reflects our commitment to acting with high professional standards in every country we operate in, and how we are prepared to robustly defend our actions and reputation when they are called into question.”
A spokesperson for the federal government said it will be reviewing the judgment before deciding the next steps.
“The FRN will continue its fight against fraud and corruption and to work to recover funds for the people of Nigeria,” it said.
For context, Shell and ENI had paid a total of $1.3 billion to Nigeria’s account at JP Morgan — $801 million for Malabu, the original OPL 245 allottees, and $210 million as signature bonus to the federal government.
All attempts by Nigeria to prove that there was corruption in the OPL 245 deal have so far proved fruitless.
Business Post had reported that an Italian court in March 2021 dismissed all charges of corruption in the transaction, discharging and acquitting all the defendants, including Shell, ENI and Mr Dan Etete, the promoter of Malabu.
The US Department of Justice (DoJ) previously investigated the OPL 245 deal and announced in October 2019 that it was closing the case.
In April 2020, the US Securities and Exchange Commission also closed an investigation into the controversial deal after it could not prove fraud or corruption.
In the JP Morgan case, it was alleged that Mohammed Bello Adoke, the attorney-general of the federation when the transaction was concluded in 2011, was corrupt and that the entire deal was fraudulent.
Mr Adoke has always denied any wrongdoing, alleging political persecution and maintaining that there is a grand conspiracy to twist a failed mortgage transaction he did in 2013 as evidence of the alleged corruption.
Citing proceedings from Nigerian courts, JP Morgan said that on April 13, 2018, “the Nigerian Federal High Court granted declarations to the effect that Mr Adoke could not be held personally liable in respect of the payments to Malabu (and the giving of instructions to JPMC to make them) because he was merely carrying out the lawful directives and approvals of the President”.
The bank said for Nigeria to make a case, it must prove that “Mr Adoke caused the Resolution Agreements to be concluded and the payment instructions to be issued; and that he did so in exchange for bribes.”
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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