A Nigerian Lawyer and Energy Consultant, Liborous Oshoma has addressed the ongoing controversy surrounding the Nigerian government’s dealings with prominent business figures, specifically Allen Onyema and Aliko Dangote. He noted that the public’s emotional responses often overshadow the practical business considerations at play.
He highlighted the federal government’s decision under the Buhari’s administration to acquire a 20% stake in Dangote’s refinery. He pointed out that the same critics who previously accused the government of favoring Dangote are now raising concerns about government insufficient investment in the refinery.
Speaking on the Dangote’s refinery situation and the NNPC, he highlighted that there is an arrangement by the government in managing it’s commitments to the IOCs under profit sharing agreement. He argued that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has the authority to reassess and explore alternative strategies if the expected resources for these agreements fall short.
He said in an interview with TVC, ”There is a lot of sentiment going out there. People are saying that what they did to Allen Onyema is what they are doing to Dangote now. But this is business and we should look at it from the business angle and take off the sentiment. When the same Federal government declared to invest 20% stake in the Dangote refinery, the same people that are complaining were the same people that cried that Emefiele is giving dollars that is not available to Dangote.
I think in that transaction, the Federal Government paid on 1 billion dollars and the balance of 1.7 billion dollars was tied to a 300,000 per day forward sale agreement. And so you have other commitments from the FG to other IOCs as well. So if NNPC now says that look from when the profit sharing agreement that they have with the IOCs, that what is available will not be enough to fulfill that initial arrangement. And so they are going to look at other alternatives, yes they have a right to so do. But at the same time in doing that, you also have a right to protect your local investor which is Dangote. It ought to have been a win-win situation for them.”….Seë_Morë