NEWS 5 Thursday 10 May 2012
ConocoPhillips CEO confirms sale of liigeria assets yan 1.lnce. ltoe
R
new chief eJ.ec· ullve orncer of ConocoPhllllp5.
on Wednesda} confirmed IhlU !.he U.S. f''''ploralioD and production company
plans to sell its Nigerian assets, but Hid. deal was nOI immlneul , reports Reuters. "We're tesling the market 00 our N1Berian as sets.~ Lance lold reporters "fler the COlT pany's an· nual meeLing_ Those aue 5 including on ~shore.
off-tbore aU and gas fields and I stake in Its LNG Brass fadllty. sources ramillar whh I fie situation told ReUiers on Tuesday. The asset t were expected to (lIUlet Inlerest
hom Nigerian companJes such as Conoll and Oando. and Asian pla'$crslndudIng China', Smopec, in dian company ONGC , and South KOlen's KNOe, Reuters 501lTO:5 said. They could help Cono coPhilllps rais e Jlbout S2..5 billion and possibly more If they were suld sepa rateJy, which Is the moS1 ma~ly mute, a ccording to the sources. Lance had n rough stan
u he presided over his first annual meeting, as protesters shouted and shareholden criticised bOArd dlverslty _H.is openIng remarks to shareholders were Interrupted four times by prote.sters who represented cleaning and maintenance workers for the company ·Support good Jobs for Houstonl" theyshouled at the executive who paused to lei them speak... Two olher shareholdelll Slood to criticise Conoco'. newly elected nine-mem ber board of direcloJl, which Is made up solely afmen, ·Cerulnly over lime the intentlon is to Improve the diversity: Lance told reporters. ·We' Ie targeting around 10 board mem bers." Lance look over as CEO and chairman on May I, replacing lames Mulva, when Ihe company spun off 115 refining business. The refining company Is called Phillips 66. Shareholder proposals relaled to lobbying dlsclo SUIes, greenhouse gas reduc tion targets and sarety were a ll vOled down.
Ibori: london court fIXes assets confiscation hearing for June 2013 ~rt
in Lond~ on Wednesday fixed JUlie 2013 for asset. confisat on hearing In respect of the Ialled former governor o f r 'eha, 'ames lbon. ,udge Anthuny Pitts silting OIl theSou~"M'8rltCrown Court. ~, aid not gM: a spedflc date fl ,r the hearioB but agreed 10 II three-week trial set £oJ Junt fbori was dlnvicted and sent 10 13 yurs In prison on April 11, afler admitting
A
to charges in\lOlvinS money laundering. Priortothehearing. the defence team is expected to make a submission by January 28, 2013 while the plUlleCUtOrs would reply within 1\'10 months. Meanwhile, the lead de fence counsel, Nicholas Pu rneU, Informed the court on Wednesday thaI one of lhe multi-million dollar assets thatlbori corrupdy acquired was currently the subject of a legal dispute In South Afrk:a. He aJso said there were difficulties In accessing rel -
evant InrormationlO assi5Iln confiscating IOOr1's ut-souen wealth In Nigerla He assured lhe court that once there was an update on the situation, the team would be able to make: their presentations and assist the prosecutors In stripping the convict of his 50 million pound ill-gotten wealth. Ibori was a bsent on \\'ednesday's hrorlng bul Is espected to appear In coon on Septcmber 10 when the case ~ expected to be men· tIoned.
Senate confirms Bianca's nomination as ambassador SenaleonWednesda, cqnnrmed the
TI
~donofBtanca
OJUkwil, wife of !.be
laiC Ikl!mt..NnItwI, Omkwuemeb OdumepOl-Ojukwu.. as
............ o;..t.wu-.
aJI~
101-
the cotlIidenIion ollhe rqxxtoftheSmrueComminee on Fordsn Main following which heT nomilialion was unanl.mowIy .PP'(7IIa\ by all IhesenllfQrS.She was nominatI!d as '" ambassador by Pm;iJowoj
dent GoodIId Jonathan along v.lm87lXhet"norninees but was tmable to anend the screening with other nommees ilIlnw:I"i thedealh ofherhusband. The Matthew Nwagwu (PDP-fmo) led commillee on foreign dales: eventually ~ ~OQ AprIl 25 and recommended !.bal she be amfumed IU an ~oc Senate Presldenl David Mark in a brief remart said he ~.tS convinced thai OJukwu would represenl the counrry
10 the be5I ofhenbllity. ·1 belieYeshewW represenl us very well: I also congratulate the women beause that makes up for thdr 35 pem!D1 affirmation action and even more." The Senate also confinned thenominatkJn olSideh Okenwa 8lI 1'1 member of the Na.tionaI Hajj Gommission of ....... (NAHCON). Okenwa is a Sheikh from Imo, and Mark congnuulaled the state fOI producing a SheIkh.
Cassava value to Reps, SEC fault AMCON on waiver of. increase after 12 N8bn Union Bank unaccounted \fUilCl7 evidence 5I.IppDI1 the claim. months - - IITA KEH INDEAKINTOLA UdQla e:xpillined tilat the manager he House of Rep - commission had sanctioned 10
lusegun Adunoye. Iialion manager, International Instltute forTroplcal Agricullure (IITA). In Abuja. has said thlll the ImpaCI of new government policy on cassava will manifest alter oneyeR Adunoye sllid in Kubwa, Abu~ thaI ca.uava normally grow within 10 months and 12 months in parts of the country. lie said Ihal the f..ooernl Govemment recently launched the ClIssava bread, and that the economic beneDts of cassavil should be BpC!I::Ied in a year's time. The manager expressed the bope that the IIvdlhood ofpootfannerswouldbebetter afler one year of thorough cassava usage by bikers.. ~ere will be an explosion In the demllnd for c;Usava soon because when the bakers begin to use cassava Dour ¥fry well, the farmers will begin to produce mo~ ~And onu there is high demand In cassava, the price will go up and the fllJUler5 will eArn more and live well: hesaJd.
O
T
r8eDlatives ad hoc: committee on capital market and officials of Securities and ExchangeCommission (SEC) on Wednesday faulted lhe action of Assec Manap::ment Corporation of Nigeria (AM CON) on the request for waiver of N8 billion Union Bank unaccuunled fund. 1he lawmaken during the ongoing pubUc hearing ellpressed conl%m over malor acquisition and merger of hflnklland the conu:ntlotL~ isMles raised by shareholden R5 well 85 !.be role played by the I1!gUlalOB. WhUe responding. OJarles Udol"ll. SEC euc:utive comm.1ssioN!f, 1egaI and enforcement, explained that the commission had earlier rejected Union Bank's appliClltion on the basl5 that ·the N8 bWlon raised from the publlc offer not been acx:ounted COl"." lie, however, noted that AMCON aCter several con sultations and via a letter resolved 10 absorb the N8 billion R5 pari of poor man:tgement IlCtlon, adding thallhe money was used 10 sel up Union Bank. UK ~nch wtthoul any
some listed comparues tJYeT market inffllclions. includIng Royal Exchange, FCMB and imposed monetary fines, penalty and directed !.bern 10 repon back 10 their respecttve shareholdcl'lli on the VIrement made or look for Ihe pr0ceed5.. He dl5dosed that the commission h<ld earlier declined approval of the acqulsillon of Interconlinental Bank by Acces5 Sank because of the grq-areason theNI56blllion raised from the capital markm in 2007.
Udora. however.. nOled thm the bala.nce or the proceeds amountinllo N58.2 bUlion was pan of the money used to acquire lnlercontinenlal Bank foiiowl.ng the approval of Its shlreholden. adding thai the bank r~uIred CBN approval for Ac:cess Bank ClIpanslon pmgrmnme focwhlch Ihe money Wll5 raised a, the capital mllfket.. On F1nbank and FCMB proposed mCf8t!'. Udal'll ellplalned thai the application for the acquisition has 10 be conc:luded before the merger approval. adding thllt the application for the merger was submitted a rortnlght agO.