Business
Why we moved Money out of Nigeria illegally – MTN Confesses
At the commencement of investigative hearing into the alleged illegal repatriation of $13.9 billion out of the country by MTN yesterday, the company told the Senate Committee on Banks, Insurance and Other Financial Institutions, that circumstances compelled it to move funds without observing the law.
The Senate had on September 27, 2016, alleged that MTN in connivance with the Minister of Trade and Investment, Okechukwu Enelamah, and four commercial banks exploited the porous Nigerian financial system to move the money out of the country without the required authorisation.
The upper legislative chamber according to a motion moved by Senator Dino Melaye (Kogi West) on September 27, alleged that MTN smartly beat Nigeria’s financial regulatory laws by failing to obtain a certificate of capital importation (CCI) as authorised by CBN Financial and Miscellaneous Act within 24 hours between 2006 and 2016 before moving the money out of the country.
It further alleged that the repatriation was done through four banks, viz: Standard Chartered Bank, Stanbic IBTC, Diamond Bank and Citi Bank.
However, why MTN and other stakeholders, inluding the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and Financial Regulation Council of Nigeria (FRCN), summoned by the committee to testify on the allegation stated their own sides of the story, Enelamah defied the committee’s directive not to leave before testifying as he instead walked out of the meeting venue before its commencement.
This resulted in insinuations by some individuals present at the meeting that the minister might have done so because he had something to hide moreso that he had earlier given excuses for his failure to appear before the committee on October 12.
However, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of MTN, Fedi Moolman, admitted that the company moved funds without complying with the 24-hour order for the issuance of CCI, saying it was practically impossible to do so.
Nevertheless, he stated that the action was taken without any deliberate intention to flout Nigerian laws but was rather compelled to do so because of circumstances which he said made it impossible for it to observe the 24-hour provision in the Act for issuance of CCI.
He said: “There was no intention to flout the rule and regulation. The 24-hour rule is not in all cases practicable and it is almost impossible to comply with.”
The CEO further told the committee that MTN faced acute challenges when it got to Nigeria in 2000 as it found out that necessary facilities for business transactions were not available, a situation he said compelled it to import equipment to Nigeria.
He, however, attempted to justify his claim that MTN meant well for Nigeria through his submissions that MTN solely contributed 3.4 per cent of Nigeria’s gross domestic product (GDP) in the first quarter of 2006 and had since its advent in Nigeria employed 500,000 Nigerians directly and indirectly.
He also claimed that besides generating 80 per cent of the electricity it uses, MTN had committed N16 billion to various projects in Nigeria through its MTN Foundation and paid N1.6 trillion tax in 14 years. He further claimed that funds moved out of Nigeria were MTN’s dividends done in line with due process.
But Moolman’s submission was in contradiction to the presentation of Mr. Pascal Dozie, Chairman of Diamond Bank, who denied the allegation of illegal repatriation by MTN, arguing that MTN had invested $16 billion in Nigeria within 16 years.
He said the money imported to Nigeria was done in three tranches as he insisted that the allegation by the Senate “was completely false.”
According to him, when MTN came to Nigeria, it offered 40 per cent shares to Nigerians while it took the other 60 per cent only to find out that it was difficult to get Nigerians to invest 12 per cent of the 40 per cent offer. He added that MTN had to bring other investors before it could secure 25 per cent of the offer.
Dozie further said it was these Nigerians who constituted Celtelecom adding that a conversion of Celtelecom investment was done in 2007 through its bankers with CBN approval as he exonerated Enelamah, saying he was not a shareholder in MTN but only a director of Celtelecom and CEO of Capital Alliance which he said midwived the Celtelecom.
But Melaye countered him as he displayed a form signed by Enelamah on February 7, 2008 for repatriation of funds, with a CCI form attached the same day investment was said to have been made in Nigeria, as he queried: “Is it possible to invest in Nigeria same day and repatriate funds same day?”
Melaye also confronted Dozie and MTN CEO with evidences that whereas CCI was supposed to have been issued within 24 hours before repatriation, such CCIs were not issued until five years later as he dismissed Dozie’s claim that Nigerian laws were not flouted in the process. “The law says CCI should be issued in 24 hours but CCIs were issued five years after. Is that not a contravention?” he queried.
Melaye also said he had information that whereas CBN approved only 13 CCIs, Stanbic IBTC only had issued over 300 CCIs without containing the necessary information it ought to contain.
But CBN in its submission said it only approved CCIs beyond the 24-hour stipulation when it was obvious that banks could not issue the document within the stipulated time.
In his submission, Managing Director of Diamond Bank and son of Dozie, Uzoma, said the bank had issued some CCIs to MTN as he admitted that the bank had been involved in repatriation of funds by MTN but added that such repatriations were “carried out with appropriate documentation,” adding: “None was repatriated without genuine CCIs.”
Also speaking, the CEO of Stanbic IBTC, Olayinka Sani, who evaded questions directly put to him, said his bank was ready to co-operate with the committee in its investigation adding that it had represented MTN in various capacities since the company opened an account with the bank.
Also, the Managing Director of Citibank, Akin Daodu, said the bank had never been involved in any illegal repatriation of funds as he disclosed that Citibank had issued 46 CCIs on behalf of MTN so far.
But in view of Daodu’s claim, Melaye drew his attention to the document his bank had earlier submitted to the committee where it had stated that “MTN didn’t request for CCI’s to be issued until more than the 24 hours,” required to issue the CCIs. Against this background, he could no longer defend the claim he earlier made moreso that Melaye reminded him that he was making his submissions under oath.
In her own submission, the CEO of Standard Chartered Bank, Mrs. Yemi Owolabi, admitted that in most cases when they were contacted for issuance of CCIs by MTN, prevalent circumstances made such issuance impossible within the stipulated time frame.
According to her, such circumstances had always compelled the bank to contact the CBN to explain the difficult circumstances in which it found itself, pointing out that they only issued the documents after securing the go-ahead from the apex bank. “Until we get approval from CBN, we don’t issue CCI,” she added.
Towards the end of the meeting, Moolman reiterated that MTN had not claimed that it had complied with the 24-hour regulation for the issuance of CCI 100 per cent but explained that such developments were dictated by circumstances beyond its control.
At the end of the meeting, Chairman of the committee, Senator Rafiu Ibrahim, urged Dozie to educate Enelamah on how to behave as he warned the minister against getting on Senate’s nerves, insisting that if he thought he could dare the Senate, the parliament would be forced to invoke its power to force him to appear before the committee.
“We want you to advise him. For him to tell us that he couldn’t wait, I think he was being audacious against the Senate. We as senators expect him to engage the Senate in a more civilised way or else, we ‘ll be forced to invoke our powers,” Ibrahim threatened.
Enelamah had upon his arrival at the commencement of the event, approached the chairman and requested for his leave to attend another engagement which the chairman turned down. But the committee was shocked that Enelamah opted to dare the committee by walking away.
While senators perceived Enelamah’s action to be insolent, some of the individuals present alleged that the minister might have deliberately opted to avoid making submissions before the committee.
However, Enelamah has reiterated that he is not involved in any wrong-doing, with regard to the MTN saga.
According to a statement from the minister’s office last night and signed by the Director of Press, Greene Anosike, the minister said:
“Enelamah served as CEO of Capital Alliance Nigeria Ltd (CANL) between 1998 and 2015. CANL is a wholly owned subsidiary of African Captial Alliance (ACA), an Africa focused private equity firm with investments in carefully selected companies within and outside Nigeria, including MTN Nigeria
“A fund managed by ACA, alongside other minority shareholders, invested in MTN Nigeria through Celtelecom. Enelamah was never the ‘owner’ of Celtelecom, neither was he ever a Celtelecom shareholder. Instead, he was a director of the company representing the ACA Managed fund.
“Investors do not have responsibility for remittance of proceeds from the company they are invested in. Therefore, at no time was Enelamah in a position to transfer funds out of Nigeria on behalf of MTN Nigeria, and at no time did he transfer any funds out of Nigeria on behalf of MTN Nigeria. As it relates to Celtelecom’s investment in MTN Nigeria, it is important to note that the entire process for applying for and using Certificate of Capital Importation (CCIs) was done by MTN Nigeria.
“All the allegations against the minister therefore, are baseless and without merit.”
NNPCL and Corruption’s Final Throes
By Pius Olasanmi
In the twilight of the Obasanjo administration, when Nigerians were still capable of being outraged, when Turn Around Maintenance (TAM) of refineries was a buzzword that still held some mysticism to bamboozle citizens, during a conversation, a certain man said something profound. The man said, “As a businessman, if I were the owner of these refineries, knowing that they are three decades old, I would take the last money I have, hire bulldozers, raze them to the ground, and obtain loans to build new ones.”
When we pressed him further on why he would engage in such waste, he explained that repairing the refineries is the real waste. He explained that even if the TAM were honestly carried out, a thirty-year-old refinery would never compete favourably with a new one that would integrate contemporary technology. Operating at its best, such a refinery would never be comparatively more efficient. It is therefore pointless to have spent another one naira on the refineries at that point.
A few months later, I had a conversation with a then-lawmaker on an entirely different matter. I mentioned that the National Assembly has failed by not crafting legislation that would criminalise and punish public office holders who foist wrong decisions on the country. The logic: a public office holder need not steal to be punished, wrong decisions should attract penalties for an office holder who opts for the worst of all options when there are less injurious ones.
These established premises speak to the ongoing nauseating efforts at revisionism by those who wrecked the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and its previous iteration, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). Notably, this campaign to rewrite history is traceable to Engineer Mele Kolo Kyari, the disgraced immediate past Chief Executive Officer of NNPCL and his hirelings. They have suffocated the news and the public opinion space with even more lies than they spun while in office.
The Saint Kyari campaign is anchored on convincing Nigerians that the Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna Refineries were fully functional when he was booted out of office. So brazen is the campaign that one of its talking heads challenged the group chief executive officer (GCEO), Engr. Bayo Ojulari, to “inform Nigerians categorically what happened to the functioning refineries he inherited from his predecessor, Engr. Mele Kyari.” The effrontery.
We have not forgotten so soon the charade that followed the baffling claim that Nigeria has spent $2.8 billion on the repair of the refineries, while they are not churning out even a single litre of refined product among them. Saint Kyari and his goons played all manner of tricks, all of which embarrassed President Bola Tinubu, who had counted on ticking off the return to productivity of the refineries as part of his achievements, only to realise that he was deceived into celebrating phantoms. Tragic.
Lest we forget, 200 trucks were arranged as props in a well-directed video clip to celebrate the re-streaming of the Port Harcourt Refinery. The disappointment. Nigerians were to learn from several reports that the Port Harcourt refinery was not producing and was instead using old, stored petroleum products to load trucks. Worse still, the Kyari crew was passing off sanction-tainted Russian-sourced crude oil refined in Malta as locally refined products. More insult was piled on the assault on our collective sensibility with the lies that the Port Harcourt Refinery exported semi-finished products. Brazen.
Meanwhile, Kyari and his hirelings called those who pointed out or protested these glaring scams all manner of names. They hid behind industry technicalities and jargon to create the impression that those of us who knew Nigerians were being robbed did not understand what we were saying. The point remains that a $2.8 billion investment can potentially build a refinery with a capacity of around 100,000 barrels per day (bpd). Of course, the actual capacity of such a refinery will depend on various factors, including the complexity of the refinery, the technology used, and the location. That is the amount that Kyari’s regime at the NNPCL took and did not give Nigerians refined products.
Fast forward to Kyari’s sack and the appointment of Engineer Bayo Ojulari, who has demonstrated that things can indeed be done differently. Kyari’s exit was expectedly followed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) going after him and his associates. The extent of the theft is better understood against the backdrop of N80 billion being found in the bank account of one of his associates. They went on the run.
Perhaps because the EFCC was biding its time on securing international warrants for the arrests of these characters on the lam, they have become emboldened. They have decided to fight back and rewrite the story of their participation in the greatest fraud against Nigerians. Engineer Ojulari’s renewed mindset, which is entrenching a semblance of the transparency Nigerians demand, became their natural target. The demons that once roamed around the corporation came out with malevolence. They started spinning stories of corruption to tarnish the incumbent who refused to hide their crimes. The objective: bring Ojulari down. But alas, he is winning the war as it stands.
His innocence is proven, and it is glaring that those who want him out are mere charlatans who can no longer ply their corrupt wares because of the impact of the new reforms. Corruption in the NNPCL is in its final throes. The fake news being unleashed against the incumbent leadership is akin to corruption’s last kicks as reforms in the sector strangulate it and its practitioners. The reforms must take place in the NNPCL, whether the industry demons like it or not.
As a parting shot, Kyari and his associates would do well to prepare their defence. In addition to accounting for the $2.8 billion they laundered in the name of repairing the moribund refineries, they must also answer for the poor decision to fix that which is irretrievably broken. Awarding contracts for Turn Around Maintenance of 59-year-old refineries that a right-thinking person had suggested should be demolished almost twenty years ago, when they were only 30 years old, is criminal. Trying to deceive Nigerians that the fake repairs worked is treason.
Olasanmi is a public affairs analyst writing from Lagos.
GRANDIS 5STAR LUXURY APARTMENT & SUITES SET TO REDEFINE LIVING IN VICTORIA ISLAND
Set to Rise elegantly against the Lagos skyline, is the Grandis 5Star Luxury Apartment & Suites. According to Adejuwon Ademola, The General Manager of the Development company, it is more than just a residential building
“it’s a lifestyle statement. Standing 17 floors high in the heart of Victoria Island, this revolutionary masterpiece of modern architecture will offer a panoramic 360° view of Eko Atlantic, Victoria Island, and Ikoyi, transforming every apartment into an exclusive penthouse experience for the world’s most discerning elite.”
Developed by Dumarco Construction Limited, a globally acclaimed company with decades of delivering complex, high-value projects in the highly regulated petroleum, oil, and gas industries, Grandis 5Star brings unmatched international safety standards, uncompromising quality, and timeless elegance into Nigeria’s luxury property market.
> “When you live in Grandis, you’re not just buying a home—you’re investing in peace of mind, world-class safety, and an effortless luxury experience that will remain pristine for decades,” says Adejuwon A. Ademola, General Manager of Dumarco Construction Limited.
The Gold Standard in Safety and Quality
Dumarco’s roots in the oil and gas sector mean the company operates to some of the strictest safety protocols in the world. Every stage—from conceptualization, design, construction, to long-term maintenance—follows internationally accepted procedures and quality assurance measures. Cutting corners is simply not in Dumarco’s vocabulary.
> “In the oil and gas industry, there’s no room for compromise. We’ve brought that same discipline and zero-tolerance for mediocrity into property development,” says Ademola. “That’s why Grandis will be one of the safest and most enduring residential developments in Nigeria.”
To ensure transparency and prevent (project complacency), Dumarco deliberately separates the developer, contractor, and consultant roles, engaging only the most competent professionals in each respective field. Dumarco’s project team includes globally recognized contractors such as Julius Berger, Cappa & D’Alberto, and Elalan, Migliore Construczione & Tecniche (MC&T) and their partners VENCO IMTIAZ CONTRACTING COMPANY (VICC) based in Dubai, UAE, Business Contracting Limited, alongside leading consultants like Morgan Omanitan & Abe, LAMBERT, and James Cubitt.
Grandis – Investments, appreciation, returns and profitability
Our selection process for the location of the project alone was pains-taking and completely thorough scientific process. Top professional companies were employed to conduct a scientific data acquisition and analytical survey of the entire Victoria Island, Ikoyi, Lekki and Eko Atlantic before a project site is selected. Analyzing and acquiring areas developmental charts and trends, studying and gathering historical and present sale prices, rental charge and occupancy rates over a 50 year period from every individual street before the selection of the location of any of our developments especially true for the Grandis Project
He adds,
“Our clients and residents can be rest assured that the location of Grandis has been scientifically proven through all existing data to provide our clients with a 100% occupancy rate, highest developmental location, highest rental income and investment returns. ”
The Grandis Experience
Located minutes away from international corporate headquarters, embassies, and landmarks such as Eko Hotel, Radisson Blu, and the Radisson Red, Grandis offers unmatched convenience for professionals, diplomats, and high-net-worth individuals. Every residence is designed for both indulgence and efficiency, with high-grade finishes, smart-home systems, and private amenities that ensure seamless living.
From sunrise over the Atlantic to the glittering Lagos night skyline, residents will enjoy uninterrupted luxury, supported by discreet and highly trained staff, advanced security systems, and a design that prioritizes comfort and privacy.
> “We designed Grandis for people who want everything—security, elegance, convenience, and the assurance that their home will look as spectacular in 20 years as it does on day one,” Ademola notes.
A Legacy That Lasts
With its combination of visionary architecture, peerless safety, and meticulous maintenance planning, Grandis is built to remain iconic for generations. Thanks to Dumarco’s meticulous approach, the building’s service charges are expected to remain low while its value and appeal continue to appreciate over time.
In a market often marred by shortcuts and substandard practices, Mr Ademola says
Grandis stands as a beacon of what luxury living should be—safe, spectacular, and built to last.
“Grandis 5Star Luxury Apartment & Suites — Where safety meets sophistication, and every detail is designed for a life well-lived.”
He added
Website -www.dumarcoltd.com
Project website – www.26idowutaylor.com
Email [email protected]
Tel / WhatsApp +234 9077777883
GM – Adejuwon A. Ademola
celebrity radar - gossips
Nationwide Talent, One Broadcaster: Tinubu Picks Pedro, Bello, Din, Mohammed to Lead NTA
Tinubu Overhauls NTA Leadership: Media Powerhouse Rotimi Pedro Takes Helm as DG
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has announced a major shake-up at the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), appointing renowned media executive Rotimi Richard Pedro as the new Director-General in a move widely seen as a bold step toward modernising the state broadcaster.
Pedro, a Lagos native, brings nearly 30 years of expertise in broadcasting, sports rights, and marketing communications across Africa, the UK, and the Middle East. A trained entertainment and intellectual property lawyer, he also holds an MSc in Investment Management and Finance from City University Business School, London.
In 1995, Pedro founded Optima Sports Management International (OSMI), which rose to become one of Africa’s leading sports content providers—distributing premium events such as the English Premier League, UEFA Champions League, FIFA World Cup, and CAF competitions to audiences in over 40 countries.
His career highlights include top roles at Bloomberg Television Africa and Rapid Blue Format, as well as advisory work for FIFA, UEFA, Fremantle Media, and the African Union of Broadcasters (AUB). At the AUB, he was instrumental in securing exclusive pan-African free-to-air media rights for all CAF competitions.
Alongside Pedro’s appointment, Tinubu named Karimah Bello from Katsina State as Executive Director of Marketing, Stella Din from Plateau State as Executive Director of News, and Sophia Issa Mohammed from Adamawa State as Managing Director of NTA Enterprises Limited.
Industry insiders credit Pedro with building commercially viable broadcast platforms, driving sponsorship growth, and delivering world-class content to African audiences. His appointment marks one of the most significant leadership changes at NTA in years—signalling the government’s intent to strengthen the broadcaster’s competitiveness in a fast-evolving media landscape.
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