Business
Ibeto/Dozzy Oil: Claimant Wanted To Sell NITECO’s Land To Us -Witness Tells Court
Mr. Ike Onwuchuluba, a defence witness in a land dispute case between Mr.Cletus Ibeto, Chief Executive Officer(CEO) of Ibeto Group and Mr. Daniel Chukwudozie, owner Dozzy Oil and Gas, has told a Rivers State High Court sitting in Port Harcourt, that part of the land the claimant offered to sell to the defendant was encroached into the land sold by Nigeria Technical Company Limited (NITECO).
At the resumed hearing, Onwuchuluba, who is also the Company Secretary and Solicitor of Dozzy Oil & Gas Limited and Sungreen Oil and Gas Limited, led in evidence by Mr. Emmanuel Ukala, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), also testified having adopted his witness statements on oath.
He confirmed that the defendants, Sungreen Oil and Gas Limited acquired a total of 122 hectares of land from NITECO, when it discovered that Ibeto had no title to substantial parts of the land he sought to sell to the defendants, after collecting the sum of N3, 295,000,000 and $3,000,000.00, being an outstanding debt owed the defendants by the claimant, which was agreed should be applied as additional payment for the land.
The witness stated that the third defendant approached NITECO to acquire the land for its business purposes when it discovered that the claimant (Ibeto) does not have any title to a substantial portion of the land he negotiated to sale to the defendants and was unable to explain the discrepancies observed in his title.
Under cross examination by Onyechi Ikpeazu (SAN), Onwuchuluba explained that the land the defendants bought from NITECO was different from the one contained in the 40 acres sub-leased to Nigeria Shipbuilders Limited, the head lessor of Ibeto Energy Development Limited.
When asked to confirm if Chief Cletus Ibeto is listed as a director or shareholder of Ardeja Trading Limited, where the $3000, 000.00 was paid into, the witness stated that the said Ardeja account was the account in which Ibeto instructed the defendants to transfer the said $3,000,000 which he borrowed from the defendants.
The witness went further to state that the initial $3,000, 000 which Ibeto admitted to have received and repaid to Dozzy Oil in Naira denomination was equally paid to the same Ardeja Trading Limited account.
He (witness) further stated that the sum of N3, 295,000,000 which Ibeto admitted on oath to have also received from Dozzy were also paid into Companies’ accounts where Ibeto is neither listed as shareholder nor director, despite that, Daniel Chukwudozie paid the funds into those non-linked accounts to the claimant based on the trust and the friendly relationship he had with Ibeto.
Earlier, Mr. Sylvanus Nwakpila another defence witness and Registrar of Titles, Ministry of Lands and Survey, Rivers State, testified in the matter.
Nwakpila had in his witness deposition, which he adopted , also tendered the correct Land Registry copy of the Deed of Sub-lease registered as No.47/47/280 in the Rivers State Lands Registry which showed that Ibeto Energy Development Company Limited was granted a sub-lease of approximately 7.8 hectares of Land by Odoh Holdings Limited, contrary to the claim by Ibeto that his company was granted a sub- lease of approximately 22.8 hectares of land at NITECO Shipyard Area, Reclamation 11 Layout.
The witness had under cross-examination by Henry Bello, counsel for Ibeto, stated that a leasee cannot acquire more land than his head lessor through which it derived its title.
The witness also stated that the certification he made on the document submitted by Ibeto was in error, and which was detected when the Deeds Registry was reviewing its response to an inquiry from the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), on the said title documents and the same became invalidated on account of such discovery.
The witness further discountenanced the survey plan presented by Ibeto, which referred to the location of the disputed land as Bundu-Ama community, asserting that the correct nomenclature of the location of the land is NITECO Shipyard Area, Reclamation 11 Layout and that the disputed land was leased to NITECO by the Rivers State Government.
The Registrar of Deeds also confirmed the existence of a Deed of Assignment between Sungreen and NITECO in the records of the Lands Registry.
Trial formally closed and the matter adjourned till March 20, 2023, for adoption of written addresses based on the agreement of the counsel on both sides.
Nigeria’s public debt rose by 48.5 per cent year-on-year (YoY) to N144.67 trillion ($94.23 billion) in 2024 from N97.34 trillion ($108.23 billion) in 2023.
The Debt Management Office (DMO) disclosed this in its latest public debt profile report.
The debt stock consists of external debt of N70.29 trillion ($45.78 billion) serviced with $4.66 million and domestic debt of N74.38 trillion ($48.44 billion).
The report showed that the country’s external debt increased by 83.89 per cent YoY from N38.22 trillion ($42.5 billion) in 2023.
Domestic debt also grew by 25.7 per cent YoY from N59.12 trillion ($65.73 billion) in 2023.
The report further indicated that the Federal Government’s domestic debt component rose by 32 per cent YoY to N70.41 trillion from N53.26 trillion in 2023.
But the domestic debt of states and the Federal Capital Territory declined YoY by 32 per cent to N3.97 trillion in 2024 from N5.86 trillion in 2023.
The rise in public debt can be attributed to fluctuating trends in exchange rates amidst changes in global economic conditions.
The sharp increase, particularly in external debt, highlights the nation’s vulnerability to exchange rate volatility and changes in global economic conditions.
With the continued depreciation of the naira, the cost of servicing foreign debt could escalate, adding pressure on the country’s financial resources.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has announced the appointment of a new eight -man Senior Management Team.
The appointment followed the recent announcement followed the appointment of the Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) and Board of Directors.
Disclosing this in a statement on Friday, NNPCL Chief Corporate Communications Officer, Olufemi Soneye, said the appointments all take immediate effect.
“Following the appointment of the Group Chief Executive Officer and Board of Directors, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) has announced the appointment of a new 8-man Senior Management Team on Friday,” he stated.
“The team which will be headed by the GCEO, Mr Bashir Bayo Ojulari, has Rowland Ewubare as Group Chief Operating Officer; Adedapo Segun as Group Chief Financial Officer; and Olalekan Ogunleye as Executive Vice President Gas, Power & New Energy.
“Other members of the team are: Udy Ntia as Executive Vice President Upstream; Mumuni Dangazau as Executive Vice President Downstream; Sophia Mbakwe as Executive Vice President Business Services; and Adesua Dozie, as Company Secretary & Chief Legal Officer. All appointments are with immediate effect.”
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the director-generaI of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), says the recent tariffs announced by the United States (US) will have significant implications for global trade and economic growth prospects.
On April 2, President Donald Trump announced sweeping global tariffs on all imports into the US, imposing 14 percent on Nigeria.
In a statement on Thursday, Okonjo-Iweala said the WTO secretariat is closely monitoring and analysing the measures announced by the nation.
The WTO DG said many members have “reached out to us”, adding that the secretariat is actively engaging with them in response to their questions about the potential effect on their economies and the global trading system.
“The recent announcements will have substantial implications for global trade and economic growth prospects,” the economist said.
“While the situation is rapidly evolving, our initial estimates suggest that these measures, coupled with those introduced since the beginning of the year, could lead to an overall contraction of around 1% in global merchandise trade volumes this year, representing a downward revision of nearly four percentage points from previous projections.”
Okonjo-Iweala expressed concern over the decline and the potential for escalation into a tariff war with a cycle of retaliatory measures that could lead to further declines in trade.
“It is important to remember that, despite these new measures, the vast majority of global trade still flows under the WTO’s Most-Favored-Nation (MFN) terms,” she said.
“Our estimates now indicate that this share currently stands at 74%, down from around 80% at the beginning of the year. WTO members must stand together to safeguard these gains.”
According to the WTO DG, trade measures of this size have the potential to create significant trade diversion effects.
Therefore, she called on members to “manage the resulting pressures responsibly to prevent trade tensions from proliferating”.
“The WTO was established to serve precisely in moments like this — as a platform for dialogue, to prevent trade conflicts from escalating, and to support an open and predictable trading environment,” Okonjo-Iweala said.
She encouraged members to utilise the forum to engage constructively and seek cooperative solutions.