Business

Legal tussle may threaten multibillion-dollar Eko Atlantic City project

A real estate development firm, Sea Global Energy Company Limited, promoters of the Ocean City Lagos Project, has accused the Lagos State Government and South Energyx, promoters of the Eko Atlantic City project, of encroaching on the geographic confines of land allocated by the Federal Government for the development of its Ocean City Lagos Project.

This is happening at a time the Eko Atlantic City project is gaining traction, with banks and top companies, international organisations as well as foreign governments including the United States Consulate in Lagos acquiring parcels of land in the place.

The Managing Director of Sea Global Energy Company Limited, Adewunmi Osagie, said President Olusegun Obasanjo had on May 26, 2003, given the company the right to reclaim up to 350 hectares of land from the Atlantic Ocean through an extension of Ahmadu Bello Way, Victoria Island, Lagos, by 7km, from the junction of Adetokunbo Ademola Street towards Epe.

This followed an application which was made through the then Minister at the Federal Ministry of Works & Housing, Mr Madaki Alli, to the Federal Government for an allocation.

The allocation, given to the company, was for the development of The Palladium Project (now known as the Ocean City Lagos Project), a coastal city that would be characterised by five districts, cutting-edge infrastructure and technology such as found in model cities in Asia, the UAE and certain parts of Europe.

Following the approval, the government of Lagos State was notified and a series of meetings were held with the then governor, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the then Commissioner for Works, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, the former DG Waterfront, Aremo Segun Oniru, and a host of other civil servants in the state.

However, in 2004 and then again in 2005, by way of a reminder to the President, the Lagos State Government also sought the approval of the Federal Government on behalf of Energyx Ltd. (now known as South Energyx Ltd.) for the allocation of Bar Beach landholding.

A copy of one of the letters written by the then governor Tinubu to President Obasanjo, which was made available to our correspondent, urged the Commander-in-Chief to sign off on the allocation due to the economic benefits that would accrue to the state as a result of the investment.

The letter, titled, “Permanent Solution to the Bar Beach,” said the investor (Energyx Ltd) had shown commitment to finance the project which would convert the monumental liability and danger into a tourist resort that would bring significant tourist revenue, create employment and direct economic growth to the country.

Obasanjo gave the approval on two conditions on April 25, 2005. The conditions were that the Federal Ministry of Works would supervise the project and any prior Federal Governments interest in the area must be respected.

In an interview with our correspondent, CEO of Sea Global Energy Company Ltd, Osagie, claimed that South Energyx, in the course of delivering its Eko Atlantic City project, with the backing of the state government, encroached upon 44.348 hectares of land initially allocated by the Federal Government in 2003.

She also claimed that at least three letters had been written to the office of the Federal Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, for due inquiry to be launched into the matter for the purpose of resolving it equitably and peacefully.

The Sea Global Energy CEO, however, said the letters had yet to be replied to.

She said, “We wrote several letters to the office of the Minister of Works, but there was no reply. The allocation was done by the Federal Government in 2003. The land belongs to the Federal Government, which is why the Governor of Lagos had to seek approval from the Federal Government for a similar allocation to be made for South Energyx. If the state government had the right to allocate the land, why didn’t the governor use his powers to make the allocation to Energyx Ltd. in 2005 without approval from the President of Nigeria?”

Osagie also stated that after several attempts to get the attention of critical stakeholders to resolve the conflict, Sea Global Energy lodged an action at the state high court sitting at the Tafawa Balewa Square before Justice Grace Modupe Onyeabor.

She also sought the intervention of the Vice President after civil servants had done their work and adjudged that there was an encroachment in December 2018.

There were also several memos reportedly written to Mr Babatunde Fashola who had directed that a stakeholders’ meeting be held since February 2019 for the purpose of resolving this impasse.

Osagie claimed that a memo written to the minister on July 8, 2021, had yet to be treated till date.

With the intervention of the Permanent Secretary, Director of Lands, Director of Legal Services, Director of the Cadastral and several other deputy directors in the Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing, a site visit was carried out and it was proposed that there would be a need to determinate if South Energyx had allegedly trespassed beyond the allocation given to it by the Federal Government for its Eko Atlantic City project.

A letter addressed to Sea Global Energy from the Ministry, a copy of which was obtained by our correspondent, read in part, “I am directed to refer to your letter of July 2, 2018 on the above subject matter and inform you that there will be need to carry out a fresh survey of the site to ascertain the extent of overlap by the activities of the Eko Atlantic City.”

A new survey map, a copy of which also was made available to our reporter, showing the allegedly encroached area, was issued by the Director of the Cadastral on behalf of the Surveyor General of the Federation to Sea Global Energy.

The survey map was distinctly different from the earlier survey map issued to Sea Global in May 2003, prior to the alleged encroachment by the Lagos State Government/South Energyx.

Osagie also stated that the Office of the Surveyor General, in delineating the geographical locations of the two allocations, advised on March 10, 2020 that both allocations were in different locations. While the allocation to Sea Global in May 2003 placed the Ocean City Project in the Kuramo Beach area with different coordinates, the allocation two years later to Lagos State in April 2005 placed them at the Bar Beach as requested by Governor Bola Ahmed Tinubu with different coordinates. Copies of the relevant documents were made available to our reporter.

Although there was a pending suit filed by Sea Global in Lagos State High Court, Lagos State Government on December 21st, 2021, lodged a fresh suit at the state high court before Justice Ogunjobi, seeking legal backing for the encroachment on the ground that the land was duly allocated to the South Energyx by the Lagos State Government.

Meanwhile, it has yet to be determined if only the Federal Government alone holds the right to allocate coastal land, by virtue of several laws, including the Land Use Act 1979, Supreme Court Judgement 2003, Glover Settlement Treaty 1908, Lands (Title Vesting, etc) Act 1975 and the Nigeria Gazette (published in Lagos) on, May 18. 1944, No. 24, Vol 31.

The state government, which also named South Energyx as co-applicants in the suit, sought to maintain the ‘legality’ of its allocation to South Energyx.

However, The Sea Global CEO believes the state government and South Energy are seeking to use the court to outsmart her company.

“They wanted to get a ruling behind our backs. They cooked up a suit against us but did not serve us properly. No principal officer of my company was served. My address is not a secret, but they chose to go to our former place of business, without finding out if that was still our base of operations, claiming to have ‘dropped’ the notice with an unknown person, just so they could go back and get a ruling behind our backs. My lawyers found out and we stopped it,” Osagie alleged.

When contacted, the Lagos State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr Gbenga Omotoso, declined to make comments on the ground that the matter was still being arbitrated on by the courts.

Efforts were also made to reach South Energyx Limited. However, the company’s representative hung up the phone after our correspondent had introduced himself.

Further attempts were made to get the company to react to the issue, but all attempts proved abortive as the company’s representative declined further calls put across to the company’s official line.

When our correspondent reached out to the Director of Press and Publicity, FMWH, Mrs Blessings Lere-Adam, she demanded for a written letter to be sent to the ministry’s Abuja address before any response could be issued to the inquiry.

A visit was also paid to South Energyx Limited’s office at Plot 1684 Sanusi Fafunwa Street, Victoria Island, Lagos. However, when our correspondent sought audience with the company’s hierarchy with a view to hearing the company’s side of the story, the company’s representative, who insisted only the company’s Managing Director could speak on the matter, declined giving our correspondent contact information through which the company’s MD could be reached.

Asked if some other official had the authority to comment on the matter, the representative said the company’s attorney was also in good stead to speak on the issue, but again declined giving our correspondent contact information of the company’s lawyer.

Initially conceived in 2004 as a solution to environmental hazards that arose from the flooding of the Lagos Bar Beach, the Eko Atlantic City project has snowballed to play host to one of the most expensive real estate locations in Africa, with a square metre of land now selling for almost $2,000.

Eko Atlantic is an entire new coastal city being built on Victoria Island adjacent to Lagos, Nigeria. It is a focal point for investors capitalising on rich development growth based on massive demand – and a gateway to emerging markets of the continent.

In 2016, the Eko Atlantic City was commissioned by then Lagos State Governor, Akinwumi Ambode.

Standing on 10 million square metres of land reclaimed from the ocean and protected by an 8.5-kilometre-long sea wall, Eko Atlantic City is projected to be the size of Manhattan’s skyscraper district. Self-sufficient and sustainable, it includes state-of-the-art urban design, its own power generation, clean water, advanced telecommunications, spacious roads, and tree-lined streets.

The project is privately funded by South Energyx Nigeria Limited – the developers and city planners, a subsidiary of the Nigeria-based Chagoury Group of companies – working in strategic partnership with the Lagos State Government and supported by the Federal Government of Nigeria.

Business

NNPC refineries may never work again – Dangote

The President of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, has stated that Nigeria’s state-owned refineries in Port Harcourt, Warri, and Kaduna may never function properly again, despite the reported $18 billion spent on their rehabilitation.

Speaking while hosting members of Global CEO Africa at the Dangote Petroleum Refinery, Dangote revealed that his decision to construct the 650,000-barrel-per-day facility followed the late President Umar Musa Yar’Adua’s administration’s refusal to sell the refineries to him.

According to Dangote, he and other investors had acquired the refineries in January 2007 but were compelled to return them to government ownership after a change in administration. He observed that despite significant subsequent investment, the refineries have remained inoperative.

“The refineries we bought before, which were owned by Nigeria, were producing about 22 per cent of PMS. We bought them in January 2007 but had to return them due to a change in government. The managing director at that time convinced Yar’Adua that the refineries would work,” he said.

“As of today, they have spent about $18 billion on those refineries, and they are still not working. I doubt very much if they will ever work,” he added.

Dangote likened the rehabilitation efforts to attempting to upgrade a 40-year-old car with modern technology, suggesting that even a new engine would not be compatible with the outdated framework.

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo had earlier expressed similar misgivings. In a previous interview, he asserted that the NNPC knew it was incapable of effectively operating the refineries but actively blocked private sector involvement.

Obasanjo disclosed that Dangote and other investors had paid $750 million to acquire the refineries, only for the deal to be reversed by the Yar’Adua administration.

“I told Yar’Adua the refineries would not work. I said, ‘NNPC cannot do it.’ He said, ‘NNPC said they can.’ I told him, ‘When you want to sell them again, you won’t find anyone willing to pay even $200 million as scrap.’ And that is where we are today,” Obasanjo said.

He alleged that the failure to privatise the refineries was fuelled by entrenched corruption within the NNPC, and insisted that those responsible should be held accountable.

Obasanjo further claimed that over $2 billion had been spent on the refineries in recent years, with no tangible results.

“If anyone says the refineries are working, why are they now relying on Aliko Dangote? He will make his refinery work and deliver,” he said.

Business

Nigerian stock market hits historic N1.806trn gains

The Nigerian Stock Exchange, under Nigerian Exchange Group, NGX, Limited, recorded a historic milestone as investors gained N1.806 trillion in a single day.

This development follows a significant rise in the All-Share Index, ASI, which surged by 2,457.13 points, or 2.01 per cent, to close at 124,446.80, crossing the 124,000 mark for the first time, from its previous close of 121,989.67.

The market’s positive performance has been attributed to growing investor confidence in Nigeria’s equities market, bolstered by improved liquidity conditions and ongoing economic reforms.

Market capitalisation similarly rose by 2.35 per cent to settle at N78.726 trillion on Thursday, up from N76.970 trillion recorded on Wednesday.

Consequently, market breadth closed strongly positive, with 70 gainers and only 10 losers.

On the gainers’ table, FTN Cocoa rose by 10 per cent to end the session at N6.82, while UPDC also gained 10 per cent, closing at N4.62 per share.

United Bank for Africa, UBA, soared by 10 per cent to settle at N39.60, while Consolidated Hallmark Holdings similarly rose by 10 per cent to close at N3.30 per share.

Haldane McCall also gained 10 per cent, ending the session at N4.73 per share.

Conversely, Neimeth International Pharmaceutical declined by 9.91 per cent, finishing at N9, while Legend Internet shed 9.88 per cent to settle at N7.21 per share.

Industrial and Medical Gases dropped by 7.36 per cent to close at N34, and Cadbury Nigeria fell by 6.22 per cent, ending the day at N55 per share.

Similarly, Livestock Feeds lost 5.67 per cent, closing at N9.15 per share.

In terms of market activity, 1.3 billion shares valued at N27.73 billion were exchanged across 27,875 transactions.

This compares to 888.70 million shares worth N15.609 billion traded in 24,303 transactions on Wednesday.

Leading the activity chart was Access Corporation, with 174.22 million shares valued at N3.99 billion.

AIICO Insurance followed with 81.96 million shares worth N165 million, while Ja Paul Gold recorded 74.01 million shares traded, valued at N245.2 million.

UBA exchanged 64.51 million shares worth N2.52 billion, and First City Monument Bank traded 63.3 million shares valued at N585.75 million.

Business

NAFDAC uncovers expired chemicals, additives, seals warehouses

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has uncovered a massive illegal operation involving the sale of fake chemicals, expired food flavours, unauthorised fertilisers, and repackaged pharmaceutical raw materials in the Alapere area of Ketu, Lagos.

The agency, in a statement, disclosed that the operation led to the arrest of several suspects and the sealing of three warehouses filled with dangerous substances.

NAFDAC Director of Investigation and Enforcement, Martins Iluyomade, told journalists that the raid followed credible intelligence about a criminal network engaged in large-scale food and chemical counterfeiting.

Iluyomade described the agency’s action as its campaign carried out to protect the health of Nigerians, stressing that individuals posing as legitimate business operators while engaging in activities that seriously endanger public health.

According to him, the offence was the sale and repackaging of expired chemicals, some of which were dangerously redirected for use in food and drug production.

He explained that several controlled substances and high-risk materials, including fertilisers requiring special clearance from the National Security Adviser, were found stocked without any authorisation.