Obaigbena’s GHL Replies Otedola, as Shareholders Demand His Removal from FBN Board
By Correspondent
General Hydrocarbon Limited (GHL) has replied the embattled Chairman of First Bank Plc, Mr. Femi Otedola, after his claim that the Deep Sea oil drilling company was indebted to the First Bank.
Femi Otedola had also, made some disparaging remarks about Prince Nduka Obaigbena, Chairman, the Nigerian media baron, Nduka Obaigbena, Chairman of Arise News Channel and Thisday Newspapers. Obaigbena is also the Chairman of GHL.
In a very detailed release sent to Midwest Herald yesterday, January 13, 2025, GHL denied owing FBN $225.8 million. The company’s response was to a report by Otedola that all accounts in financial institutions linked to Prince Nduka were frozen by FBN over failure to meet up with a $225.8 million loan obligation.
Reacting, GHL clarified that it is not indebted to the bank in the manner projected by the claim, but however, the company entered into an agreement with FBN over oil production and development of OML 120, and the project is active and still pending.
Part of the four pages statement reads: “We entered a legally binding, enforceable subrogation agreement with First Bank on May 29, 2021, with FBN agreeing to fund GHL’s exploration, production, and development of OML 120 in exchange for sharing profit from oil proceeds from the OML in a 50:50 ratio after statutory payments and taxes over 8 years.
”The FBN 50 percent share will then be used to pay down its non-performing loans of about $718 million, which was discounted to $60 million to resolve its solvency issues therefrom.
“In its quest to stay afloat, the FBN loan was sold at $600 million as an Eligible Banking Asset (EBA), with comfort from GHL; the FBN then collected the cash from Assets Management Company of Nigeria, (AMCON), with which they rebuilt the bank without meeting GHL’s needs.
“The FBN non-performing loan arose from FBN’s unsecured and reckless lending to Atlantic Energy under separate Alliance arrangements, events in which GHL had no connection with agreements made it clear that the non-performing loan had nothing to do with GHL beyond the fact that 50 percent of profits from OML 120 due to FBN under the Subrogation Agreement will be used by FBN 66ae nexus.
“It is important to note that FBN’s credit and risk team verified and approved all contracts and invoices due to the contractors engaged for the development and operations of the oil mining lease and made payments directly to these contractors and service providers.
“The allegations of a diversion of the monies advanced to GHL are therefore befuddling and without merit as to settle the hole created in its books by the Non-Performing Loan (NPL). For clarity, Atlantic Energy operated OMLs 26, 30, 34, and 42—very different from GHL’s OML 120 payment, which was made by FBN directly to service providers after vetting and approval by its credit and risk teams.”
In the last days, First Bank Nigeria Holdings has been enmeshed in controversies as its shareholders are divided over Otedola’s chairmanship, with calls to the Central Bank of Nigeria to intervene in the lack of corporate governance in the bank.
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