Economy
Seplat Sheds N15 Per Share on News of Chairman’s $144m Court Case
By Dipo Olowookere
Shares of Seplat Plc have depreciated by N15 since the beginning of this week, Business Post is reporting.
This development came on the back of news last weekend about Chairman of the oil firm, Mr Ambrosie Ojiako, being ordered by a Lagos court to pay three financial institutions the sum of $144 million.
According to reports, Mr Orjiako and his firm known as Shebah Exploration and Production Company Limited were asked to pay the amount to Skye Bank (now defunct and known as Polaris Bank), Diamond Bank and the Africa Import Export Bank.
A Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi had certified judgment delivered by the High Court of Justice Queen’s Bench Division and upheld by the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, directing Shebah Exploration & Production Company Ltd, Allenne Ltd and its president, Mr Orjiako, to pay the three lenders a sum of $144.2 million.
Seplat is a company trading its shares on both the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) and the London Stock Exchange (LSE).
At the local stock market on Monday, Seplat closed flat, trading at N630 per share.
However on Tuesday, shares of the firm depreciated by N10, ending at N620 per share at the close of the day’s session.
At the market on Wednesday, Seplat lost N5 to settle at N615 per share.
Business Post reports that yesterday, the management of Seplat had to release a statement to the NSE, emphasising that the company was never a party to the suit, but only its Chairman, Mr Ojiako.
“Seplat, a leading Nigerian indigenous oil and gas company listed on both the Nigerian Stock Exchange and London Stock Exchange, has been made aware of some media publications on the enforcement by the Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos, Nigeria of a $114 million judgment made by a UK High Court against Shebah Exploration & Production Company Ltd, Allene Ltd and Dr Ambrosie Orjiako (who is also the Chairman of the Board of Directors of SEPLAT).
“Seplat is not a party to the litigation. The company will monitor the progress of this suit and issue further communication on the matter as appropriate,” the statement had clarified.
This may have had a little effect on the shares of the company today as its securities closed flat at the close of transactions at N615 per share.
BACKGROUND OF THE $144 MILLION CASE
Reports have it that the Lagos court certified the judgments on March 28 and ordered the defendants to comply with the judgment, denying them the permission to appeal it.
The first defendant, Shebah Exploration & Production Company Ltd is a Nigerian company engaged in oil exploration and production while the second defendant, Allenne Ltd is the guarantor of the borrowed loan.
The third defendant, Mr Orjiako, is the President of Shebah and a personal guarantor of the liabilities of Shebah and Allenne pursuant to a Deed of Guarantee and Indemnity dated July 1, 2011.
The claimants had dragged the defendants before the High Court of Justice Queen’s Bench Division in order to be able to recover an outstanding of the facility loan granted to them.
The claimants had apply for a summary judgment against the defendants for sums outstanding under a syndicated loan facility agreement totalling over $144.2 million, together with interest on those sums.
They had prayed the court to determine whether it is arguable that, in entering the Facility Agreement, the parties were contracting on the claimants’ written standard terms of business so as to engage section 3 of the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1997 (‘UCTA’).
In a judgment delivered by Mr Justice Phillips of the High Court of Justice Queen’s Bench Division on February 19, 2016, the court said Shebah had taken the loan for purpose of discharging certain of its existing borrowing and to provide working capital for its operations, including funding for a work-over programme to stimulate production at oil wells in the Ukpokiti oil field.
According to the court, the defendants never denied that the claimants advanced $150 million to Shebah pursuant to the Facility Agreement, nor dispute that, apart from paying one instalment of $6,111,111.11 in June 2012 but Shebah has failed to meet any further repayment instalment, despite the claimants agreeing to the deferral of several instalments.
The judge said in a previous proceeding, which commenced on March 11, 2014, the defendants agreed that, in exchange for the claimants’ discontinuing the proceedings, Shebah would repay all sums outstanding under the Facility Agreement in two tranches: $49.999,999.86 (with accrued interest) by April 30, 2014 and the balance of the loans and interest by July 1, 2014.
He added that Shebah failed to pay any part of the sum due on April 30, 2014. “The claimants were therefore entitled, under the terms of the Discontinuance Agreement, to commence fresh proceedings in respect of their claims.
These proceedings were commenced on June 2014, repeating the claims previously made and adding a claim against Shebah in respect of the $49.999,999.86 due under the Discontinuance Agreement”, the judge said.
Phillips stated that notwithstanding their previous stance, the defendants now contended that no sums whatsoever are due to the claimants, adding that they (the defendants) have arguable defence to the claim.
The judge however ruled that there is no merit in the defendants’ contention on the issues on the ground that there is simply no basis for inferring that the claimants, or any of them, habitually put forward the LMA form (or a tailored version of it) as a basis for their syndicated loan transactions.
“The most likely scenario is that it was chosen or selected by the claimants’ lawyer and that they will have adapted it to reflect the specifics of the transactions. It is impossible to draw any inferences as to what starting points may have been taken in other transactions, involving other permutations of lenders and other lawyers.
“I therefore satisfied that the defendants do not have a realistic prospect of establishing at trial that the Facilities Agreement is on the claimants’ written standard terms of business. The suggestion that the disclosure might alter the position is a classic example of hoping that something may turn up, in this case a forlorn hope given the evidence that there was in fact a degree of real negotiation of the final terms.”
Phillips in his judgment held that whilst the claimants’ purported acceleration of the loans on October 16, 2013 was ineffective, the defendants do not have a defence to the claimants’ alternative case, based upon the acceleration notice dated October 2, 2014 and subsequent demands dated April 14, 2015 and July 27, 2015.
“For the reasons set out above, the claimants are entitled to summary judgment against all three defendants for (i) the principal outstanding under the Facility Agreement of $143,888,888.89, subject to giving credit for the sum paid during the course of this application and the sums conceded in respect of default charges and hedging fees; (ii) the management fees claimed; and (iii) interest calculated on the alternative basis that the loan was accelerated on October 2, 2014”, the judge held.
Dissatisfied with the judgment, the defendants approached the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, seeking to quash the judgment.
Ruling on the defendants’ application, the Supreme Court sitting comprising Lord Mance, Lord Reed and Lord Lloyd-Jones upheld the decision of the lower court and refused the permission to appeal the decision.
“After consideration of the application filed on behalf of the Appellants seeking permission to appeal the order made by the Court of Appeal on June 28,2017 and of the notice of objection filed by the Respondents.
“The court ordered that (1). Permission to appeal be refused because the application does not raise an arguable point of law of general importance. “(2). The Appellants pay the Respondents costs of the application and, where the Respondents apply for costs, the costs to be awarded be assessed.”
By Dipo Olowookere
The week-on-week trading volume on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited contracted by 38 per cent amid profit-taking by investors as a result of cautious trading.
Data from Customs Street showed that in the five-day trading week, market participants transacted 3.075 billion shares worth N254.614 billion in 287,157 deals, in contrast to the 4.964 billion shares valued at N207.521 billion traded in 235,966 deals in the preceding week.
Analysis showed that financial equities led the activity chart, with 2.074 billion units sold for N64.490 billion in 121,981 deals, contributing 67.44 per cent and 25.33 per cent to the total trading volume and value, respectively.
Services stocks recorded a turnover of 175.743 million units worth N2.759 billion in 19,590 deals, while consumer goods shares exchanged 133.375 million units valued at N12.680 billion in 30,730 deals.
Access Holdings, Sterling Holdings, and Jaiz Bank accounted for 819.234 million shares worth N12.247 billion in 21,809 deals, contributing 26.64 per cent and 4.81 per cent to the total trading volume and value, respectively.
In the week, 11 equities gained weight versus 40 equities a week earlier, 78 shares lost weight versus 53 shares in the previous week, and 57 stocks closed flat versus 53 stocks of the preceding week.
Cornerstone Insurance chalked up 11.01 per cent to sell for N6.05, Academy Press rose by 8.72 per cent to N8.10, Conoil improved by 8.25 per cent to N210.00, Neimeth expanded by 4.68 per cent to N8.95, and Ikeja Hotel grew by 3.36 per cent to N44.60.
On the flip side, International Energy Insurance shed 28.83 per cent to trade at N5.06, First Holdco lost 20.29 per cent to finish at N55.00, John Holt slipped by 17.65 per cent to N11.20, NAHCO depreciated by 17.27 per cent to N148.50, and Zichis dropped 16.13 per cent to settle at N26.00.
Business Post reports that the All-Share Index (ASI) and the market capitalisation depreciated by 3.59 per cent to close the week at 235,941.27 points and N151.327 trillion, respectively. Also, all other indices finished lower except the sovereign bond index, which remained unchanged.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Dimension Data SPV Funding Plc has opened subscriptions for its Series 1 Corporate Bond issuance of up to N5 billion under a N20 billion bond programme, with proceeds earmarked for expanding Nigeria’s digital infrastructure.
The offer, led by Pathway Advisors Limited as the Lead Issuing House and Bookrunner, is being executed through a book-building process and will close on June 29, 2026.
According to transaction details, the three-year bond is being offered at a book-build price range of 18.50 per cent to 20.00 per cent per annum, with coupon payments to be made semi-annually. The final coupon rate will be determined at the conclusion of the book-building exercise. The minimum subscription has been set at N10 million.
Dimension Data SPV Funding Plc said the funds raised from the issuance would be deployed towards strategic investments in fibre network expansion, capacity enhancement and service quality improvements.
The company noted that the investments would strengthen the infrastructure supporting Nigeria’s rapidly expanding fintech sector, enterprise connectivity needs and the broader digital economy.
“The proceeds from the bond issuance are intended to support strategic investments in fibre network expansion, capacity enhancement and quality service delivery. This will bolster the critical infrastructure supporting Nigeria’s broader fintech, enterprise connectivity and digital ecosystems,” the company stated.
The bond has been assigned ratings of BBB+ by Agusto & Co and A- by DataPro Limited, while the sponsor, Dimension Data Limited, holds BBB+ ratings from both Agusto & Co and DataPro.
Dimension Data Limited, incorporated in 2003, is a provider of end-to-end Information and Communications Technology (ICT) solutions in Nigeria.
The company provides services including IP telephony, SD-WAN, dedicated internet services and Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) solutions, while also offering managed services, hosting, storage and virtual machine solutions. Its operations span connectivity services, systems integration, data centre management and cloud solutions.
Dimension Data operates a purpose-built data centre with a 47-rack capacity, serving clients across the banking, telecommunications, retail and enterprise sectors.
According to the company, its business model combines recurring revenues from managed services with project-based income from systems integration activities, creating a diversified revenue base and stable cash flows.
The firm also said it has maintained long-standing relationships with a broad portfolio of local and multinational clients, with more than 70 per cent of its major customers retaining business relationships with the company for over a decade.
Commenting on the transaction, Pathway Advisors Limited said the offer presents investors with an opportunity to gain exposure to a critical infrastructure segment positioned for sustained long-term growth as Nigeria accelerates its digital transformation agenda.
Pathway Advisors, a Securities and Exchange Commission-regulated issuing house and financial advisory firm, said it remains committed to facilitating access to capital and supporting sustainable economic growth across key sectors of the Nigerian economy.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The federal government says Nigeria’s solid minerals sector has attracted about $3 billion in investments over the past three years, driven by interests in lithium, gold and other strategic minerals.
The disclosure was made recently during a press briefing ahead of the 5th African Natural Resources and Energy Investment Summit (AFNIS), scheduled to hold from June 23 to 25, 2026, at the State House Conference Centre, Abuja, noting that the investments are being supported by policy changes introduced under President Bola Tinubu’s administration, aimed at repositioning the mining sector as a major contributor to economic diversification.
The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Mr Dele Alake, who was represented at the briefing by the chief executive of the Nigeria Solid Minerals Company, Mr Martins Imonitie, said the inflow of $3 billion within three years was significant, given the capital-intensive and long development cycles typical of mining projects globally.
According to him, mineral development requires extensive geological studies, financing arrangements, and offtake agreements, meaning investment decisions are rarely immediate and often take years to materialise.
“For Nigeria to attract about $3bn in investments within this period is unprecedented and demonstrates growing confidence in the direction of reforms in the sector,” he said.
He noted that mining projects can take between 15 and 20 years to reach full commercial maturity, stressing that the sector demands long-term capital commitment rather than short-term returns.
“These investments cut across lithium, gold and several other minerals. More importantly, they signal what lies ahead for the sector in terms of sustained growth and global investor interest,” he added.
Mr Alake said the forthcoming AFNIS 2026 would focus on repositioning Africa from a raw materials exporter to a value-added industrial hub capable of driving job creation, technology transfer and inclusive growth.
He noted that Africa’s natural resource base must be leveraged not only for exports but for domestic industrialisation and long-term economic transformation.
“The significance of AFNIS 2026 goes beyond its fifth edition. It comes at a defining moment for Africa, as global demand for critical minerals continues to rise amid the energy transition,” he said.
He added that the summit’s theme, “One Africa, One Resource Vision,” reflects the need for stronger regional cooperation in developing mineral resources, energy infrastructure and integrated value chains.
According to him, isolated national approaches are no longer sufficient, given the scale of global demand and the need for competitive positioning in supply chains for critical minerals such as lithium, cobalt, graphite and rare earth elements.
Mr Alake also disclosed that the 2026 edition would place greater emphasis on implementation, with structured investment sessions, sovereign meetings, project financing discussions and deal-oriented engagements.
“The objective is clear: participants should leave Abuja with concrete partnerships, investment commitments and actionable projects that translate into jobs and economic growth,” he said.
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