Kogi State Government says it has moved to recover Obajana Cement Plant from Dangote Industries Limited.
On Wednesday, the cement plant was sealed due to an “ownership tussle” between the company and the state government.
As reported by CableNews, Kogi State Government’s resolution is contained in a report by the specialised technical committee on the evaluation of the legality of the alleged acquisition of Obajana Cement Company by Dangote Cement.
The report was presented to the public by Folashade Ayoade, secretary to the state government (SSG), on Thursday in Lokoja.
During the presentation, Ayoade alleged that the transfer of Obajana Cement Company to Dangote Industries Limited was “invalid, null and void”.
She disclosed that, in the report, three certificates of occupancy for Obajana Cement Company Plc, which was solely owned by the Kogi state government at the time, were used to obtain a loan of N63 billion by Dangote.
According to her, the committee, in view of its findings, has, therefore, recommended that Kogi state should take steps to recover Obajana Cement Company from Dangote Group.
The committee, chaired by the SSG, also recommended that: “Kogi state government should take steps to recover all accrued dividends from profits made over the years, including accrued interest on same.
“Kogi state government should take steps to cancel the existing seven certificates of occupancy in the name of Dangote Cement Company.
“There is no evidence of consideration paid by Dangote Industries Limited to Kogi state government from the alleged transfer of Obajana Cement Company Plc and no dividend was paid to the state from the profits realised from the inception of Dangote Cement Company Plc to date.
“By the assignment of the three certificates of occupancy, the title in Obajana Cement Company Plc, still vests in Kogi state government as the sole owner.
“The three documents were used to obtain a loan of sixty-three billion naira only (63,000,000,000.00) to finance the construction of the cement plant in Obajana.”
On his part, Matthew Kolawole, speaker of the Kogi state house of assembly, said that the acquisition of the Obajana Cement Company by Dangote was without the resolution of the house of assembly which made the process null and void.
“It is clear that you cannot sell a state government property of any form without the resolution of the Kogi state house of assembly,” he said.
“All the transfer process of the share capital to Dangote from Obajana by the previous administration was without any law backing it by the state house of assembly.”
In his remarks, Kogi State Governor, Mr, Yahaya Bello, , said he had taken the bold step in line with his mandate to safeguard the lives and livelihood of the people of Kogi state, including residents, and to ensure their well-being.
Bello said this was also coming on the heels of protests by the people of the state who felt they had been suppressed and marginalised by Dangote Group who had come to rip them off.
The governor, however, said the state is open to discussions once Dangote Group is ready to come clean.
“We received several petitions from the general public over this particular subject matter. In the past five to six years, all efforts to sit with the proprietors of the Dangote Conglomerate failed,” Bello said.
“We set up a committee to look into this and invited the Dangote company to discuss with them and tell them the imminent dangers they are exposing the people to, but it all fell on deaf ears.
“I am here to defend my people, and from all reports, it is clear that Obajana Cement Company does not belong to Dangote.”
The plant was purportedly sold by the Kogi government to Dangote Cement in 2002, but the current administration questions the acquisition.
On Wednesday, the Kogi State House of Assembly ordered the shutdown of the plant situated at Obajana in the north-central state, saying the asset was not legitimately acquired by the firm.
And according to Premium Times, Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man and the company’s majority shareholder, has been summoned to a meeting with the lawmakers, the state legislative arm said, but demanded more time to do, according to a statement.
An email seeking comments from Anthony Chiejina, the spokesperson for the Dangote Group, was not immediately replied.
Resident youth thronged the factory to drive out staff after the news of its closure order broke into the open but faced resistance from officials of the state government.
Chief among their grievances is alleged corporate social responsibility failure by Dangote Cement bordering on environmental hazards from industrial pollution induced by factory activities and neglect of the host community it is “making billions from.”
The government’s action is the outcome of a petition by locals, prompting inquiry into the nature of the transaction leading up to the purchase of the factory two decades ago.
Obajana Cement, previously owned by the state government, was sold to Dangote Cement in 2002.
“It was found that no valid acquisition took place, as Dangote could not show evidence of what was paid as consideration for the acquisition,” the Kogi State Commissioner for Information Kingsley Fanwo told journalists.
“The House of Assembly therefore ordered the closure of the company pending when they are able to present it with credible evidence of a valid acquisition,” Mr Fanwo said, noting the decision became necessary following alleged delay by Dangote to meet the lawmakers.
A separate document endorsed by the commissioner said a youth suffered gunshot injuries after gunmen hired by the factory opened fire.
“Today’s operation at Obajana has further opened the eyes of the State Government to the criminal hub that Obajana is fast becoming with the level of arms and ammunition deployed by hoodlums hired to stop the sealing of the company as directed by the State House of Assembly,” it said.
Dangote Cement, Nigeria’s second biggest public company by market value, reported total sales of N808 billion and net profit of N172.1 billion in the first half of the year.
Meanwhile in its version, titled “Kogi claims Obajana plant ownership, Dangote, MAN kick”, The Punch reports that the state government has said that it will be ready to enter into negotiations once Dangote Group is ready to admit that Obajana cement plant does not belong to it.
Governor Bello stated this on Thursday while presenting documents to back the state’s claim to the ownership of the plant.
The documents are from the report of the Specialised Technical Committee on the Evaluation of the Legality of the Alleged Acquisition of Obajana Cement Company Plc by Dangote Cement Company Limited.
The detailed report, which was submitted to Governor Yahaya Bello last month, was presented to the public by the Secretary to the State Government, Dr. (Mrs) Folashade Ayoade.
According to her, the claimed transfer of Obajana to Dangote Industries Limited was “invalid, null and void.”
Ayoade said in the report that three certificates of occupancy for Obajana Cement Company Plc, which was solely owned by the Kogi State Government at the time, were used to obtain a loan of N63bn by Dangote.
She said the committee, in view of its findings, had recommended that Kogi State take steps to recover the Obajana Cement Company from the Dangote Group.
The committee, chaired by the Secretary to the State Government, also recommended that, “Kogi State Government should take steps to recover all accrued dividends from profits made over the years, including accrued interest on the same.
“Kogi State Government should take steps to cancel the existing seven Certificates of Occupancy in the name of Dangote Cement Company.”
“Agreement between Kogi State Government of Nigeria and Dangote Industries Limited, dated 30th July 2002 and supplemental agreement dated 14th February 2003, as contained in Exhibit 71 of the Judicial Commission of Inquiry Report, purporting the transfer of Obajana Cement Company Plc to Dangote Industries Limited, are all invalid, null and void.
“There is no evidence of consideration paid by Dangote Industries Limited to Kogi State Government from the alleged transfer of Obajana Cement Company Plc and no dividend was paid to the state from the profits realised from the inception of Dangote Cement Company Plc to date.”
On his part, the Speaker of the Kogi State House of Assembly, Matthew Kolawole, said the acquisition of the Obajana Cement Company by Dangote was without the resolution of the House of Assembly, which rendered the process null and void.
“It is clear that you cannot sell a state government property of any form without the resolution of the Kogi State House of Assembly.
“All the transfer process of the share capital to Dangote from Obajana by the previous administration was without any law backing it by the state House of Assembly,” Kolawole stated.
In his remarks, Governor Yahaya Bello said the decision to seal the plant came on the back of several petitions by members of the local community who felt marginalised by the company.
The governor, however, said that the state was open to discussions once Dangote Company Plc was ready to come to dialogue.
“We received several petitions from the general public over this particular subject matter. In the past five to six years, all efforts to sit with the proprietors of the Dangote Conglomerate failed.
However, the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria condemned the invasion of Dangote plant by officials of the Kogi State Government.
MAN, while reacting to Wednesday’s faceoff between the security outfit of the state and workers at the Dangote Cement plant, described the invasion as illegal and a breach of the fundamental human rights of one of Nigeria’s foremost corporate entities.
Said to be the flagship plant and the largest of the three cement factories owned by the Dangote conglomerate in Nigeria at 16.25Mta capacity across five lines, and the largest cement factory in Sub-Saharan Africa, the plant opened in 2008 with two lines totaling 5Mta. It extended its capacity to 10.25Mta in 2012 with the opening of Line 3; added a further 3.0Mta line in late 2014 and another 3.0Mta in 2020.
With limestone reserves of 647 million tonnes, expected to last for about 45 years, the plant is supported by a fleet of 2,370 trucks.
