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Worry as Forte Oil Loses 40.26% Barely a Month After Otedola’s Exit

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By Dipo Olowookere

The continued dwindling in the fortunes of shares of a once vibrant energy company, Forte Oil Plc, is giving its holders something to seriously worry about.

Last month, billionaire Nigerian businessman, Mr Femi Otedola, announced his exit from the firm after offloading his 75 percent stake to focus on another business venture, Geregu Power.

Earlier this month, Business Post, relying on a document from the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), had reported that Mr Otedola sold his entire 982,971,950 ordinary shares of 50 kobo each to the new owners, Ignite Investments and Commodities Limited, at N66.01 per unit, amounting to N64.9 billion.

After his exit from the firm, there was a change in almost the entire management team of Forte Oil.

The oil and gas mogul, while he was announcing his departure from the company, had wished the new owners well, challenging them to take the firm to enviable heights.

“A few years ago, my team and I embarked on an arduous task of transforming a moribund petroleum marketing business, African Petroleum Plc (formerly British Petroleum) into Forte Oil Plc; a leading integrated solutions provider with solid footprints in downstream petroleum marketing, Upstream Services and Power Generation and one in which we built intrinsic value to the benefits of our shareholders.

“In line with my principle of business focus, we have divested from our marketing and upstream businesses and shall from now on focus and consolidate on the gains of our power generation business, Geregu Power Plc.

“We wish our successors the very best and urge them to build on our legacies which have been established since 1964,” the son of a former Governor of Lagos, Sir Michael Otedola, had said in a post he put on his verified Instagram page.

But since this announcement on Wednesday, June 19, 2019, Business Post observed that Forte Oil shares have lost 40.26 percent at the stock market.

When Mr Otedola left Forte Oil last month, shares of the company were traded at the nation’s stock exchange at N34.65k per unit.

However, at the close of business on Friday, July 12, 2019, they were transacted at N20.70k each, indicating a decline of 40.26 percent or N13.95k.

This huge fall in less than a month is already making some shareholders of the firm to begin to doubt the future of the company.

They wondered why things have been on a free-fall since the departure of Mr Otedola, with insinuations that the businessman might have seen this coming and decided to speak to his legs.

But at the weekend, a source at Forte Oil informed Business Post that though the management and board of the company are greatly concerned by the performance of the firm at the stock market, they are working tirelessly to ensure things change for the better.

“Don’t think the board and management are doing nothing to make things better because this is their main agenda for now. You will begin to see positive changes.

“Remember, they just came on board and they need time to settle down. I can assure you that Forte Oil will bounce back,” the source, who profusely begged not to be named, told Business Post.

Recall that after taking over as the new Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Forte Oil Plc, Mr Olu Adeosun, urged shareholders of the energy firm not to offload their shares because better days were staring at them.

He gave this assurance while addressing newsmen in Lagos, saying the new owners of the company have big plans for the company and its shareholders.

According to him, “Our desire for our shareholders is the same as for our customers. We don’t want anyone to go. We want our shareholders to hold on to their shares because we believe, as a long term company, there is better value in the long term and we will return dividends to them.”

He had stressed that the new team plans to consolidate the achievements of the previous management and take advantage of the combined assets at its disposal to improve stakeholders’ wealth and ensures best quality service delivery to its numerous, boasting that Forte Oil Plc will be one of the best things to have happened in this country.

“This is because of the symbiotic strength we are bringing to the sector. It is a very complementary process. The core investors have a wide experience and strength in the upstream with massive exposure to the international trading market; they have a deep trading line with their bankers. They are bulk traders and they are bringing in products.

“Forte Oil has the third largest retail outlets in Nigeria. We are not buying from intermediaries again but we are buying directly from the bulk traders where other intermediaries are buying from.

“We will enjoy the benefits of economies of scale; we will enjoy the benefits of credit and also enjoy the benefits of the diversity of assets that Prudent Energy is bringing to the party,” he had told journalists last month.

Also recall that after its acquisition of Forte Oil, Chairman of Ignite and Chief Executive of Prudent Energy Services Limited, Mr Abdulwasiu Sowami, had said the investment was a of “strategic importance to support our quest of continuously adding value to the Nigerian oil and gas industry.”

According to him, “The next phase of Forte Oil’s growth will focus on increasing volumes, diversifying business operations, widening distribution networks and extracting potential synergies with partners. We look forward to working as part of the Forte Oil family to achieve this growth.”

 

Dipo Olowookere is a journalist based in Nigeria that has passion for reporting business news stories. At his leisure time, he watches football and supports 3SC of Ibadan. Mr Olowookere can be reached via [email protected]

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Economy

Presco, GTCO List Additional Shares on Stock Exchange

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Nigeria's stock exchange

By Aduragbemi Omiyale

The duo of Presco Plc and Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO) Plc has listed additional shares on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited.

The extra equities of these two publicly-listed organisations were admitted to the local stock exchange last Friday, increasing their respective total issued and fully paid-up shares.

For Presco, it listed fresh 166,666,667 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each on the daily official list of the NGX on Friday, January 30, 2026, increasing its total issued and fully paid-up stocks from 1,000,000,000 units to 1,166,666,667 units.

The additional equities were from the rights issue of the firm allotted to shareholders on the basis of one new share for every existing six ordinary shares held as at close of business on Monday, October 13, 2025.

In a circular issued over the weekend, the NGX said, “Trading licence holders are hereby notified that additional 166,666,667 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each of Presco Plc were on Friday, January 30, 2026, listed on the daily official list of Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited (NGX).

“The additional shares arose from the company’s rights issue of 166,666,667 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each at N1,420.00 per share on the basis of one new share for every existing six ordinary shares held as at close of business on Monday, October 13, 2025.

“With the listing of the additional 166,666,667 ordinary shares, the total issued and fully paid-up shares of Presco Plc has now increased from 1,000,000,000 to 1,166,666,667 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each.”

As for GTCO, it listed additional125,000,000 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each at N80.00 per unit offered through private placement.

The fresh equities taken to Customs Street have raised the total issued and fully paid-up shares of GTCO from 36,425,229,514 to 36,550,229,514 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each.

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Economy

FG, States, Local Councils Share N1.969trn FAAC Allocation

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faac allocation

By Adedapo Adesanya

A total of N1.969 trillion was shared to the federal government, the 36 state governments and the 774 local government councils from the gross revenue of N2.585 trillion generated by the nation in December 2025.

The money was disbursed to the three tiers of government at the January 2026 Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) meeting held in Abuja.

In a statement issued on Monday by the Director of Press and Public Relations in the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF), Mr Bawa Mokwa, it was stated that the FAAC allocation comprised statutory revenue of N1.084 trillion, distributable Value Added Tax (VAT) revenue of N846.507 billion, and Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL) revenue of N38.110 billion.

“Total deduction for cost of collection was N104.697 billion, while total transfers, refunds, and savings were N511.585 billion,” the statement partly read.

It was also revealed that from the N1.969 trillion total distributable revenue, the federal Government received the sum of N653.500 billion, and the state governments received N706.469 billion, the local government councils received N513.272 billion, and the sum of N96.083 billion was shared with the benefiting state as 13 per cent derivation revenue.

He said of the N1.084 trillion distributable statutory revenue, the central government received N520.807 billion, the state governments got N264.160 billion, the local councils were given N203.656 billion, and N96.083 billion was shared to the benefiting states as 13 per cent derivation revenue.

FAAC noted that from the N846.507 billion distributable VAT earnings, the federal government got N126.976 billion, the state governments received N423.254 billion, and the local government councils got N296.277 billion.

From the revenue from EMTL, Mr Mokwa explained that the national government was given N5.717 billion, the state governments got N19.055 billion, and the councils collected N13.338 billion.

He added that the companies’ Income Tax (CIT)/CGT and STD, Import Duty and Value Added Tax (VAT) increased significantly in December, while oil and gas royalty, CET levies and fees increase marginally, with excise duty, Petroleum Profit Tax (PPT)/Hydrocarbon Tax (HT), and EMTL considerably down.

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Economy

Oil Exports to Drop as Shell Commences Maintenance on Bonga FPSO

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Bonga FPSO

By Adedapo Adesanya

Nigeria’s oil exports will drop in February following the shutdown of the Bonga Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel scheduled for turnaround maintenance.

Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCo) Limited confirmed the development in a statement issued, adding that gas output will also decline during the maintenance period.

This comes as SNEPCo begun turnaround maintenance on the Bonga FPSO, the statement signed by its Communications Manager, Mrs Gladys Afam-Anadu, said, describing the exercise as a statutory integrity assurance programme designed to extend the facility’s operational lifespan.

SNEPCo Managing Director, Mr Ronald Adams, said the maintenance would ensure safe, efficient operations for another 15 years.

“The scheduled maintenance is designed to reduce unplanned deferments and strengthen the asset’s overall resilience.

“We expect to resume operations in March following completion of the turnaround,” he said.

Mr Adams said the scope included inspections, certification, regulatory checks, integrity upgrades, engineering modifications and subsea assurance activities.

“The FPSO, about 120 kilometres offshore in over 1,000 metres of water, can produce 225,000 barrels of oil daily.

“It also produces 150 million standard cubic feet of gas per day,” he said.

He said maintaining the facility was critical to Nigeria’s production stability, energy security and revenue objectives.

Mr Adams noted that the 2024 Final Investment Decision on Bonga North increased the importance of the FPSO’s reliability. He said the turnaround would prepare the facility for additional volumes from the Bonga North subsea tie-back project.

According to him, the last turnaround maintenance was conducted in October 2022.

“On February 1, 2023, the asset produced its one billionth barrel since operations began in 2005,” Mr Adams said.

SNEPCo operates the Bonga field in partnership with Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria (Deepwater) Limited and Nigerian Agip Exploration Limited, under a Production Sharing Contract with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited.

The last turnaround maintenance activity on the FPSO took place in October 2022. On February 1, the following year, the asset delivered its 1 billionth barrel of oil since production commenced in 2005.

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