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
A 0.91 per cent growth was recorded by the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange on Friday, May 22, after the share prices of four securities ended in green.
According to data, FrieslandCampina Wamco Plc went up by N15.61 to N179.67 per share from N164.06 per share, Newrest Asl Plc grew by N6.11 to N67.26 per unit from N61.15 per unit, Food Concepts Plc appreciated by 17 Kobo to N2.75 per share from N2.58 per share, and Nitrox Industrial Gases Plc added 6 Kobo to sell at N25.50 per unit compared with the previous day’s N25.44 per unit.
At the close of business, the market capitalisation chalked up N23.22 billion to settle at N2.561 trillion versus Thursday’s N2.538 trillion, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) increased by 38.81 points to 4,281.28 points from 4,242.47 points.
During the session, the price of Central Securities and Clearing System (CSCS) Plc was down by N3.13 to N71.07 per share from N74.20 per share.
The activity chart showed that the volume of securities transacted by the market participants decreased yesterday by 81.6 per cent to 590,339 units from the 3.2 million units recorded on Thursday, as the number of deals shrank by 28.6 per cent to 30 deals from the 42 deals recorded a day earlier, while the value of securities increased by 0.5 per cent to N95.3 million from the preceding session’s N94.8 million.
Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc closed the day as the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with a turnover of 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units sold for N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 61.2 million units traded for N4.1 billion.
The most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis was GNI Plc, with the sale of 3.4 billion units for N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units valued at N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units exchanged for N415.7 million.
By Dipo Olowookere
The Nigerian Exchange witnessed a decline in transactions on Friday despite closing higher by 0.22 per cent on the back of sustained bargain-hunting.
During the last trading session of the week, investors transacted 711.9 million equities valued at N29.1 billion in 62,386 deals compared with the 1.1 billion equities worth N31.0 billion traded in 62,448 deals in the previous day, indicating a decline in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 35.28 per cent, 6.13 per cent, and 0.10 per cent, respectively.
Fidelity Bank closed the day as the most active stock with the sale of 198.1 million units for N4.6 billion, Access Holdings traded 69.7 million units worth N1.8 billion, Mutual Benefits exchanged 42.7 million units valued at N197.4 million, Japaul transacted 33.9 million units worth N134.4 million, and Zenith Bank sold 24.4 million units valued at N3.2 billion.
Yesterday, the industrial goods index rose by 0.53 per cent, the consumer goods sector jumped 0.28 per cent, the banking industry improved by 0.25 per cent, and the energy counter soared by 0.18 per cent, while the insurance space shed 0.18 per cent.
At the close of business, the All-Share Index (ASI) gained 536.98 points to finish at 249,712.37 points compared with the previous day’s 249,175.39 points, and the market capitalisation grew by N344 billion to N160.077 trillion from N159.733 trillion.
Aluminium Extrusion and DAAR Communications expanded by 10.00 per cent each to sell for N9.90 and N2.09, respectively, RT Briscoe surged by 9.93 per cent to N14.06, Learn Africa increased by 9.79 per cent to N12.90, and Red Star Express advanced by 9.56 per cent to N34.95.
On the flip side, Trans-Nationwide Express depreciated by 9.92 per cent to N5.72, Livestock Feeds dipped by 9.64 per cent to N8.90, The Initiates crashed by 8.65 per cent to N33.80, Ellah Lakes drowned by 8.64 per cent to N10.05, and Neimeth lost 6.36 per cent to trade at N10.30.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira weakened against the United States Dollar by N3.15 or 0.23 per cent to N1,375.46/$1 from N1,372.31/$1 in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Friday, May 22.
It was also a similar situation for the domestic currency against the Pound Sterling in the official market yesterday, as it lost N9.46 to sell for N1,849.72/£1 compared with the preceding session’s N1,840.26/£1, and against the Euro, it depreciated by N6.26 to close at N1,597.04/€1, in contrast to Thursday’s exchange rate of N1,590.78/€1.
At the GTBank FX desk, the Nigerian Naira tumbled against the Dollar during the session by N2 to trade at N1,381/$1 versus the previous day’s N1,379/$1, and at the parallel market, it remained unchanged at N1,390/$1.
Analysts at Cowry Asset Management Limited, in their weekly financial outlook, have projected the Naira will remain under soft pressure in near term due to continuous FX demand.
“Looking ahead, the Naira may remain under mild pressure in the near term due to persistent FX demand, though rising external reserves could help cushion volatility,” they noted.
Meanwhile, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) this week reiterated that it would continue with its current policy direction to sustain the fight against inflation and stabilise the exchange rate.
This comes as the FX market has changed significantly under the ongoing reforms introduced by the apex bank, with increased market liquidity reducing the need for heavy intervention by the CBN. Its intervention currently accounts for only about 1.2 to 1.3 per cent of total market turnover in 2025, a development he said reflects the growing strength of the market.
Turnover has risen sharply from about $100 million in 2023 to roughly $550 million presently, with transactions occasionally climbing to as high as $1 billion in a single day.
A look at the cryptocurrency market showed that it was down on Friday as Mr Kevin Warsh was sworn in by President Donald Trump as the chairman of the US Federal Reserve, replacing Mr Jerome Powell, who will continue as a governor in the US central bank.
The appointment was made in the hope that he would lead the central bank to cut interest rates, but the Iran war has sent oil prices soaring and re-ignited what had been cooling inflation.
Ethereum (ETH) depreciated by 5.5 per cent to $2,010.90, Dogecoin (DOGE) lost 5.2 per cent to trade at $0.1001, Cardano (ADA) fell by 5.0 per cent to $0.2389, Solana (SOL) slipped by 4.9 per cent to $82.69, and Bitcoin (BTC) slid by 3.3 per cent to $74,950.02.
Further, Ripple (XRP) went down by 2.9 per cent to $1.32, Binance Coin (BNB) declined by 2.6 per cent to $641.61, and TRON (TRX) shrank by 1.2 per cent to $0.3606, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.
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