Oando gets govt’s approval for $1.65b ConocoPhillips’ acquisition

The Federal Government yesterday approved the landmark acquisition of ConocoPhillips (COP) Nigerian assets by Oando Plc, paving the way for the final closure of the $1.65 billion acquisition deal.

The much-awaited consent of the Minister of Petroleum Resources sealed the deal for Oando and sent investors scrambling for the shares of the leading indigenous integrated energy group. Oando’s share price rose by 7.99 per cent to close at N25 per share at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE). Oando was also the most active stock as investors staked N992.9 million on 39.37 million ordinary shares of the company. Most analysts said they expected the price rally to continue in the days ahead.

In December 2012, Oando, through its exploration and production subsidiary, Oando Energy Resources (OER), had entered into an agreement with COP to acquire its Nigerian businesses.

Though Oando successfully acquired all funds required to complete its acquisition of the assets, closing of the COP acquisition had remained subject to the satisfaction of certain closing conditions, including government and regulatory approval, and the consent of the Minister of Petroleum Resources.

Ministerial consent is the mandatory final approval of all oil and gas acquisitions by the  Minister of Petroleum Resources as required by the Petroleum Act of 1969 which states that “prior consent of the Minister of Petroleum Resources is obtained before the assignment of any right, power or interest in an oil prospecting licence or oil mining lease”.

The Act stipulates that the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources must conduct due diligence to ensure ownership is being transferred to a company that is of good reputation, has sufficient knowledge, experience and financial resources to work the license or lease and in all other respects is acceptable to the Federal Government. Consent of the Minister may only be granted where the Minister is satisfied that the above conditions have been fully met.

With the due completion of the game-changing acquisition, Oando would be immediately positioned as the largest indigenous oil producer in Nigeria and would now produce circa 50,000 barrels per day from six producing fields and will significantly impact its near immediate Upstream strategy and operations, and optimise its value across the energy chain.

As it  awaited the government approval, OER had reached agreement with COP to extend the outside completion date for the acquisition till June 30, 2014.

In a statement, OER stated that it would now work with ConocoPhillips towards completing the acquisition by the long stop date of June 30, 2014 or shortly thereafter.

“Further to the receipt of consent of the  Minister of Petroleum Resources, OER and ConocoPhillips are now positioned to complete the ConocoPhillips transaction,” OER stated.

As it awaited the ministerial approval, Oando had made a total deposit of $550 million to COP, one-third of the $1.65 billion deal while it has already amassed the funds needed to close the transaction. Oando last weekend secured extension of the availability period of the $450 million senior secured facility agreement arranged by a group of international banks, including Standard Chartered Bank, BNP Paribas and Standard Bank of South Africa Limited to August 31, 2014.

The facility is a five and a half years lending arrangement which amortises quarterly with an annual interest rate of LIBOR plus 8.5 per cent. Proceeds from the facility are intended to be used to fund a portion of the purchase price for the COP’s acquisition. All terms and conditions under the initial executed binding documentation remain unchanged.

It had also undertook many capital raising exercises through a combination of equity and debt including $200 million from a special placement of two billion shares, $100 million through the sale of its subsidiary East Horizon Gas Company and debt from financial institutions totaling $800 million.

Commenting on the approval, the Group Chief Executive, Oando Plc, Mr Wale Tinubu, said the company would immediately complete the acquisition

“We are delighted to receive the approval of the Minister of Petroleum Resources for the completion of our acquisition. It has been a long journey, wherein we kept faith with our strategy and executed every milestone diligently.

 This acquisition satisfies our criteria for assets in production, as well as excellent appraisal and exploration prospects. We will work hand in hand with the management team of ConocoPhillips to immediately complete the acquisition,” Tinubu said.

Banks lose N40b to internet fraud, says CBN

Money deposit banks (MDBs) in Nigeria lost a total of N40 billion to internet fraudsters last year, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has said.

Speaking yesterday at the National Cyber Security Forum (NCSF 2014) organised by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) in Lagos, its  Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), Taiwo Longe lamented that the financial cost of cybercrimes to the world is about $288billion which far exceeds that of illicit drugs.

According to him, the criminal elements perpetrate their trade using web phishing, network intrusion, emails and others, adding that every organisation must have a security blueprint in place which it will use to manage its security.

He added that there is need for proper information security management to reduce ‘vulnerability and risk’ of attack.

“Information security assurance is the process of protecting and defending information by ensuring its confidentiality, integrity and availability (CIA),” he said, adding that COBIT, FISMA, NIST, NIPAA and PCI are some of the initiatives that have helped boost security of transaction.

He said with the growing threat of cybercriminals, the need for policy framework to address the menace has become more imperative now than ever before.

 He added that awareness is another key element in driving the process of fighting cybercrimes because people must be aware of the potential risk they face so that they could take precautionary measures.

Longe urged MDBs not to rest on their oars because the criminal elements are always ahead of them in the game.

He said the CBN has put in place what he called ‘Defence Indepth’ consisting people, process and technology, stressing that the measure secures information at multiple levels.

Speaking on the occasion, Managing Director, Teledon Group, Dr Emmanuel Ekuwem warned that banks, telcos, cards, aviation industry and even the military could fall victim of cybercriminals who could hack into their servers and compromise their data.

He said the cyber space is now as important as the physical space, adding that government should expedite action on the passage into law of the cybercrimes bills pending before the National Assembly.

According to Ekuwem, Nigeria’s territorial integrity is no longer limited to its sea and land borders but its cyberspace. He urged the Federal Government to appoint someone to head the cyber security department just as there are people heading all the armed forces of the federation.

He said cyber security threat arising from the digitalisation process of the National broadcasting Commission (NBC) is real and called on the political class to muster the political will to address the problem once and for all.

Benue APC hails Odigie-Oyegun

The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Benue State has congratulated the National Chairman, Chief John Oyegun, on his election.

Its Publicity Secretary, Ayem T. Atsem, said the emergence of the technocrat will put the party in a better stead to wrestle power from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Ayem called on supporters to remain committed to the party.

He warned them to be wary of the antics of the PDP, which are meant to destabilise the party.

The party also lauded the leadership qualities of the State Chairman, Abba Yaro, noting that his leadership qualities would be used to the party’s advantage.

EXCLUSIVE: How Arik Air “steals” from us — passengers

“The whole experience has left me feeling violated. I do not intend to fly Arik Air anywhere outside Nigeria.”

When Elizabeth Nwafor booked an Arik Air ticket from Lagos to Johannesburg, South Africa, the last thing on her mind was being robbed en route her destination.

Ms. Nwafor went on a short vacation to Johannesburg on October 24, 2013. She boarded the Abuja– Lagos-Johannesburg flight with the airline using its Boeing 737-800 plane for the W3103 international flight.

Immediately she arrived Johannesburg and retrieved her briefcase from the luggage section, she noticed its lock had been broken.

On noticing the broken lock, Ms. Nwafor said she approached the Arik Air desk in Johannesburg to inquire if there was security check on her bag.

“When I picked up my luggage, I noticed that the padlock of my briefcase had been broken.

 So I went to the Arik desk in Johannesburg to file a complaint and find out what had happened; probably they must have broken it for security check although I did not see any sticker to indicate that,” Ms. Nwafor said.

To her surprise, the man on the desk informed her that there was no security check on her bag as such checks were not done by the airline in Johannesburg, and any such checks would have been done in Lagos.

However, he gave her a complaint form to fill; should she “discover any items missing from my suitcase.”

Ms. Nwafor said she decided to keep mum on the incident as she had no time to check through and be sure there were missing items in the bag.

“I wasn’t going to say anything about it,” she said. “But when we arrived in Lagos on our return flight, I boarded the shuttle bus with a number of people; about 20 of them and it turned out that nine had had the same experience and things were actually stolen from them.”

While Ms. Nwafor was lucky nothing was stolen from her bag, several other passengers on a similar flight three days later had worse experience.

A team of victims
Prince Sajere, who led a nine-member contingent, including the Miss Ambassador for Peace 2013, on a trip to Johannesburg said the flight was a very sad experience for his team.

He explained that having had his bag broken into and property stolen on a previous Arik flight, he only felt bad for the young women he travelled with as most of them were on that route for the first time.

“It was a sad experience. I led a team of beauty pageants from Lagos to Johannesburg on the October 27; the flight was by 10:45pm.

“Before we boarded the flight that very day, they called the attention of one of us that her bag was torn, immediately I saw it I knew it was Arik that tampered with it because one time I travelled with my family on Arik (Lagos to Johannesburg), they stole my iPad device.

Mr. Sajere said he asked the lady to check for any missing item in the bag. She didn’t because of her eagerness for the trip and because people had started boarding the plane.

The situation, however, worsened upon arrival in Johannesburg.

“Immediately we arrived, a particular girl started complaining that her iPad was gone from her bag.

The girl that her bag was torn then realized that her clothes and jewelry were stolen; my perfume and shoes were also stolen from my bag. Every one of us had one or two things missing from our bags,” Mr. Sajere said.

Just like Ms. Nwafor, Mr. Sajere and his team complained to the airline’s desk in Johannesburg, but were referred to Arik Air’s headquarters in Lagos.

Mr. Sajere said that Arik Air officials in Johannesburg blamed their Lagos colleagues for the theft. They also told him that they had received many such complaints from Lagos passengers.

“We complained at Arik office in Jo’burg and they said we have to get back to Lagos to make a complaint, that it must be the Arik people from Lagos. They also said that a lot of complaints have been coming from their direction,” he said.

Any hope that Mr. Sajere and his team would get a redress at the Lagos office of the airline was dashed a few days later.

“Immediately I got to Lagos with the team, we went to the Lagos Arik office on November 1 (2013).

I was speaking with the station Manager; a Yoruba guy, I can’t recall his name. He was nonchalant over our complaint and later two guys came as if we were in a court asking us what happened, when and how it happened and so on. Then they said we should go online to fill a form which can easily be denied and meanwhile there was no form online to be filled out,” he said.

When the team boarded the transit bus from the international terminal of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport to the local terminal, they realised they were not the only victims of the theft on the Arik flights, they met Ms. Nwafor and other passengers who suffered similar fate.

 All had returned on the same flight to Lagos from Johannesburg and shared their experiences.

“Immediately we boarded a transit bus in Lagos international airport to local, I was just trying to talk to the lady beside me about what happened,” Mr. Sajere said. “Immediately everybody started complaining about the same issues. It’s a pity that this happens here often, where our litigation doesn’t work, nobody cares.”

One of the members of Mr. Sajere’s team, Queen Irene, was too angered by the loss of her white mini-iPad that she declined to speak further on the matter.

Another passenger on the same flight, Etim Emoh, said that two pairs of shoes were stolen from his bag on another flight to Johannesburg.

Aviation officials react
Several Arik officials spoken to at the Lagos airport by the victims and blamed aviation officials who manage luggage handling for the theft.

But the spokesperson for the aviation agencies, Yakubu Datti, said that it was totally irresponsible for any airline operative to blame the aviation agencies for its inadequacy.

“We don’t get involved in their searches and they should be able to own up,” Mr. Datti said. “It’s a lazy argument for anybody to blame other people for their ineptitude.

We create a plane ground for all users of aviation services and if one out of 10 airlines are blaming us for their inadequacy; it’s a rather lazy argument.

“We believe that any airline not only Arik should sit up to their responsibilities to the passengers because whoever pays to expect some services by these are airlines have the Passengers Bill of Rights protection.”

He noted that all Nigerian air travellers’ right must be respected as contained in the Passenger’s Bill of Rights.

“The Nigerian passenger’s right must be respected as it is done internationally, that is why we do not condone any action in form of disrespect to any passenger flying Nigerian airlines.

“The Passenger Bill clearly states the sanctions and in every airport there is the Consumer Protection Commission, [CPC] desk headed by a Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, staff, where passengers can lodge their complaints,” he said.

He also said there are telephone numbers available for air passengers to call and lay their complaints, saying it is only when such complaints are laid that the agencies undertake investigations.

Furthermore, he encouraged passengers to lodge their complaints or displeasure from any operative to the CPC/NCAA desk.

Despite the complaints by the passengers, however, Arik absolved itself of any wrongdoing.

Arik Air responds
The Public Relations Officer of Arik, Ola Adebanji, replying said while Arik Air is not justifying damage or loss of items by passengers, such cases are global problems not peculiar to the Nigerian airline.

“It is important to state that issues bordering around missing, lost or damaged luggage is a worldwide problem in the air travel industry and not peculiar to any airline,” he said. “For instance, in 2012 alone, nearly 1.8 million pieces of luggage were lost, stolen or damaged by major U.S. airlines- and this is just on domestic flights.”

He also said that Arik Air does not condone stealing by its employees and that most of the thefts are not perpetrated by Arik staff.

“In as much as one is not justifying lost or missing luggage on Arik Air flights, I would like to say that most, if not all of the incidents on Arik Air’s flight were not perpetrated by the airline’s staff.

“Quite a lot of activities are involved in flight operations especially handling of passengers’ luggage. Though the passenger has a contract with Arik Air, other parties are involved in ensuring the contract is discharged,” he said.

Mr. Adebanji explained that the airline has “intensified efforts to ensure that our security staff monitors our passengers’ luggage from the point of check-in to loading.”

He advised all passengers to keep their valuables in their hand luggage and to also notify Arik’s check-in staff of any luggage that contains fragile items to ensure accurate tagging and handling.

The spokesperson said the airline’s recruitment process is usually thorough and applicants tested for integrity. He also said any staff proven guilty of such act would be appropriately dealt with, and passengers compensated in line with aviation industry practice.

Although none of the theft victims of the Lagos-Johannesburg flights got or plan to seek compensation, their frustration has helped them make a decision on the airline.

“The whole experience has left me feeling violated,” Ms. Nwafor said. “I do not intend to fly Arik Air anywhere outside Nigeria based on the number of people that were robbed on a single flight. It suggests to me that whatever is going on is well organized and involves more than two people at any given time to pull it off time and time again.”

Jonathan appoints new PTDF Executive Secretary

The appointment is with immediate effect.

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President Goodluck Jonathan has appointed Olufemi Ajayi as the Executive Secretary of the Petroleum Technology Development Fund, PTDF.

This is contained in a statement issued in Abuja on Wednesday by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Reuben Abati.

Mr. Abati said the appointment of Mr. Ajayi is with immediate effect.

He said Mr. Ajayi, until his new appointment, was the Director-General of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA.

Mr. Ajayi, who is from Ekiti, replaces Oluwole Oluleye, also from Ekiti.
Mr. Oluleye had served as the Executive Secretary of the PTDF since 2013.

Police withdraw terrorism charge against Ekiti commissioner, others

The police said it withdrew the charges due to the directive of the Attorney-General of the Federation.

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The Nigeria Police Force, Wednesday, withdrew the terrorism charges filed against Finminiyi Afuye, the Ekiti State Commissioner for Integration and Inter-Governmental Affairs, and 11 others.

In a Notice of Discontinuance filed at the Federal High Court, Abuja, the police stated that it was due to the directive of the Attorney-General of the Federation.

“With due respect my lord, I have found it convenient to inform this Honourable Court of our intention to discontinue the above pending case due to Attorney-General’s directive in the matter,” the police stated in the notice signed by Torugbene Oloye, a Deputy Superintendent of Police.

“This discontinuance is also necessitated by the need for further investigation in the case,” the police added.

Mr. Afuye, 57; Idowu Aladejebi, 68; Afuye Jide, 30; Anisulowo Kayode,46; Azeez Suleiman, 19; and Ajayi Idowu, 18, were facing a three-count of committing terrorism, conspiracy, and inducing others to commit acts of terrorism.

The other suspects were Babadi Ajayi, 35; Abiodun Omoniyi, 68; Oyedapo Olaoluwa, 29; Sunday Olalere, 27; Dapo David, 26; and Akinyemi Tayo, 25.

The police alleged that the accused persons had, on the night of June 8, used dangerous weapons at Oluyemi Kayode Stadium in Ado-Ekiti, resulting in destruction of property, death of one Peter Akin, and injuries to several other persons.

The charges are punishable under the Terrorism (Prevention) (Amendment) Act of 2013, the police had stated in their charge sheet filed by Mr. Oloye.

Though the accused persons were to be arraigned on Wednesday, the police prosecutor failed to turn up in court.

Femi Falana, counsel to the accused persons, said that although the police had filed the Notice of Discontinuance of the “vexatious” charge, the accused persons were yet to be released from custody.

“However, Mr. Afuye was granted bail by the High Court sitting at Ado Ekiti,” Mr. Falana, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, said in a statement.

“While thanking the media and all democratic forces for condemning the abuse of prosecutorial powers by the police, it is hoped that never again will the provisions of the anti-terrorism laws (Terrorism (Prevention) Act, 2011,) be invoked to harass innocent people of Nigeria,” he added.

Popular Chilean Actress Had 12-hour Marathon Sex To Celebrate Victory Over Australia

A popular Chilean porn star, Marlen Doll, has hit the international headlines for the way she decided to celebrate her country's victory against Australia at the ongoing 2014 FIFA World Cup holding in Brazil.

It was gathered that before the group match between Chile and Australia on 13 June, Marlen took to Twitter to announce that she’d be available for an eight hour sex marathon should Chile get the full three points against the Aussies.

After the South Americans defeated Australia 3-1in the first group match in Brazil, the porn star reportedly did not fail to hold up her end of the bargain

According to reports, Marlen went ahead and extended her sex marathon to a full half-day 12 hours session.

Reports stated that she went a step further by issuing her phone number on social networks for potential applicants, whilst she also posted some of her pictures for those who are interested.

Below are some of Marlen Doll’s tweets:

    #EmpiezaElMundialYYo PROMETO SI CHILE GANA TENER SEXO DURANTE 8 HORAS CON DISTINTOS HOMBRES DE TWITTER // RT pic.twitter.com/5MbH2HmtcA

    — Marlen Doll (@marienchilena) June 12, 2014

    Cumpliendo pic.twitter.com/mMdFt1ZrbR

    — Marlen Doll (@marienchilena) June 14, 2014

 Gracias por venir pic.twitter.com/wBadtTU8tq

— Marlen Doll (@marienchilena) June 15, 2014