…As Reps panel asks SEC to take over Capital Oil***

A former President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Dr Olisa Agbakoba (SAN), yesterday lamented Nigeria’s trade imbalance with China.

Agbakoba said the country was losing business opportunities by not taking advantage of its bilateral relations with the Asian superpower.

He said the country’s large population provides a ready market for Chinese goods, but Nigeria, being import-dependent, gets “nearly nothing” in return.

He spoke at the annual conference of the Nigerian Institute of Chartered Arbitrators (NICArb), held at Oriental Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos.

The conference’s theme was: “Enforcement of arbitral awards and economic growth in West Africa.”

Agbakoba said: “The trade between Nigeria and China is so skewed in favour of China and we are getting nothing; we are import-dependent; everything is imported. If everything continues to be imported where is our hope? We import toothpicks from China.

“I was listening to the Director-General of NAFDAC (National Food and Drugs Administration and Control) today (Thursday) talking about drugs; we import everything. This has just got to change.”

He warned Nigeria to be wary of becoming overexposed to Chinese loans in a way that could affect its sovereignty.

Agbakoba said: “The other day I saw in Zambia, the head of Zambian Police decorating a Chinese policeman who had taken over the Zambian Police because Zambia defaulted on a loan. So, there are wider implications.

“There is no way we can develop if we don’t take an interest in the immediate environment.”

The rights activist lamented that the country was losing jobs and revenue from a failure to enact a national arbitration policy, as obtainable in China, Singapore and most Western countries.

He observed that despite the existence of a highly competent arbitration community in Nigeria, most of the high-value disputes involving companies operating in Nigeria are still being taken abroad to be resolved by foreigners.

He explained that a national arbitration policy could compel multinationals doing business in Nigeria to put a clause in their contracts stipulating that all arising disputes must be resolved in Nigeria.

Agbakoba said: “When (former) Governor (Babatunde) Fashola was in office and I was the NBA President, I approached him and there were some policy initiatives by (former) Governor Fashola, to the effect that all the trades and transactions within Lagos State had embedded in them an arbitration clause making Lagos the venue and that created jobs.

“We can’t sit down here and be training as arbitrators and becoming fellows and we don’t have jobs. The key thing in arbitration is to have work to do.”

Also speaking, the second Vice-President of NICArb, Prof Fabian Ajogwu (SAN), shared in Agbakoba’s concern that Nigerian-origin disputes were being taken abroad for resolution “to the detriment of jobs and wealth creation in Nigeria”.

He blamed the trend on “the consumption attitude” of Nigerians and speed with which Nigerian courts set aside arbitration awards.

The conference had in attendance the Presiding Justice, Court of Appeal, Lagos Division, Justice Mohammed Garba, who represented appeal court President, Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa.

Also in attendance were the President, National Industrial Court, Justice Babatunde Adejumo; and Mr Muniru Liadi, who represented NBA President, Mr Paul Usoro (SAN).

In the meantime, a sub-committee of the House of Representatives on Capital Market and Institutions on Thursday asked the Securities and Exchange Commission to take over Capital Oil Plc for allegedly defrauding shareholders of more than N5bn.

The committee, which is chaired by a lawmaker from Lagos State, Mr Tony Nwulu, is investigating the level of compliance with operational and regulatory requirements by publicly-quoted companies in the country.

Speaking at the committee’s hearing at the National Assembly in Abuja, Nwulu said the panel had information detailing “shocking revelations” on how successive management teams of Capital Oil had allegedly mismanaged shareholders’ funds.

He said SEC must sanction the company and other firms involved in insider abuses to serve as a deterrent.

“We are extending this warning to all the publicly-quoted companies in Nigeria. Wherever we see incompetence, we will expose them and ensure that SEC takes them over and where forensic audit needs to be done, we will make sure that it is carried out,” Nwulu stated.

Commenting specifically on the situation in Capital Oil, the chairman added, “We are mandating SEC to take over the management of Capital Oil. We will invite SEC to come and tell us what they know about what has become of Capital Oil.

“We will be inviting all the past management of Capital Oil Plc to come and explain how come a company that Nigerians invested their hard-earned money in can just go this way without explanations.”

Nwulu told the session that the House would follow the matter to a logical conclusion by ensuring that those who committed the abuses would be punished.

Besides the abuse of shareholders’ funds, the committee also found out that the company was in tax deficit of over N70m.

Nwulu said, “We are not going to back down, no matter how highly-placed they are. It is disheartening that a Plc can go down without any explanation being made to Nigerians.

“Anybody who played a part in this has explanation to make to Nigerians. It is pathetic to look at Nigerians in the face and tell them that their hard-earned money is gone.

“All those who are guilty will make account. That is what we are telling Nigerians. We assure them that justice must be served.”

Among former top officials of Capital Oil that the committee said would appear to testify are former managing directors, Dr Tunji Sobodu and Mr Ayo Fanimokun; Executive Director, Finance, Mr Enoor Osubele; and Mr Jerome Ikhine.

Meanwhile, the Speaker of the House, Mr Yakubu Dogara, has blamed the jinxed on the dredging of the River Niger on the activities of cartels with vested interests.

He said the cartels had vowed never to allow the dredging see the light of day so long as the project would not address their interests.

Dogara spoke in Abuja when he granted audience to the Managing Director of the National Inland Waterways Authority, Senator Olurunnimbe Mamora, at the National Assembly on Thursday.

The Speaker informed his guest that since 2015, he had personally intervened to see to the successful implementation of the National Transport Master Plan to no avail.

Recalling his role in the past soon after the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo initiated the plan, Dogara stated, “I was part of the development of the National Transportation Master Plan. I don’t know what has happened to it.

“How I wished we implemented that plan; by now, we would have gone very far because the master plan’s vision is a seamless integration of multi-modal transportation into one hub.”

Mamora urged the National Assembly to give legislative backing to his agency so that it would succeed in delivering on its core mandate.

The Nation with additional report from Punch