FOLLOWING a Supreme Court judgment, which pronounced Bancorp Finance and Investment Group (BFIG) as owner of the Aluminum Smelter Company of Nigeria (ALSCON), Ikot Abasi in Akwa Ibom State, the nonpayment of $410 million to the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) has stalled the implementation of the court ruling.
The Supreme Court had on June 6, 2012, gave the ruling in favour of BFIG in the suit filed against the BPE. The judgment further mandated the BPE to prepare a Share Purchase Agreement (SPA), which would be handed over to the head of BFIG, Mr. Reuben Jaja, for signing.
Nine months after, the agreement has not been signed by BFIG and no explanation has been given to this effect. However, investigations carried out revealed that a clause in the ruling had stipulated the payment of $410 million by the firm before the takeover.
In a chat with The Guardian, ALSCON Director of Public and Government Relations, Albert Dyabin, said the agreement was based on the judgment stipulating that "this amount must be paid in two installments: 10 percent ($41 million) within 15 days from the day of the signing of the SPA and later the balance 90 percent ($369 million).
"With this, BPE is ready to consider the handover of ALSCON on the condition that BFIG would pay the amount ruled by the Supreme Court for the plant. The logical thing is that if BFIG wants to acquire ALSCON as a property, then it must pay the Nigerian government the amount stipulated by the court," Dyabin said.
Top BPE officials, who pleaded anonymity, disclosed that BPE in clear terms, is completely in line with the decision of the Supreme Court, saying, however, that BFIG must first effect payment to the government agency.
The Guardian