The
first building to be completed in Nigeria’s cutting-edge city of the
future, Eko Atlantic, has been acquired by oil magnate and Chairman of
Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc, Dr. ABC Orjiako.
The
15-storey building, designated Alpha 1 or Afren Tower, was designed by
James Cubitt architects and built by the Chagoury-owned construction
firm, ITB Nigeria Limited, for a private investor with the intention of
having Afren Plc, once a London Stock Exchange (LSE) listed independent
oil and gas firm with interests in Nigeria, Ghana, Kurdistan, The Gabon
and Cote d’Ivoire, as its anchor tenant.
However,
by the time Alpha 1 was completed last year, Afren had filed for
administration, following allegations of unauthorised bonus payments by
the company’s joint venture partner to the then CEO and CFO of Afren, a
crippling bond default, its inability to refinance its operations, and
eventual delisting from the LSE.
With Afren in administration, an air of uncertainty befell Alpha 1 but this was lifted some months
ago when Orjiako, an orthopaedic surgeon, with extensive interests in
the oil and gas sector spanning more than two decades, bought the
property
With
the acquisition of the building, Orjiako has
commenced the relocation of one of his exploration and production firm –
Salvic Petroleum – to Alpha 1.
When
contacted to confirm the acquisition of the building, Orjiako denied
that he had bought the tower, however, top officials who work for
Gilbert and Jack Chagoury who are behind the development of Eko Atlantic
City, and two bank CEOs in the know of the transaction, maintained that
he bought the building in his wife, Henrietta Orjiako’s name.
Another
source claimed that Orjiako was not interested in making his latest
acquisition public in order to keep his creditors at bay.
Although
Orjiako holds the majority interest in Salvic Petroleum, the company is
chaired by Mr. Oye Hassan Odukale, who is also the MD/CEO of Leadway
Assurance Limited, and has his wife, Henrietta, as its executive vice
chairman. Another director of the company includes Ikem Okafor who
doubles as its CEO.
Salvic
will be remembered for its attempt to take over the Strategic Alliance
Agreement (SAA) held by Jide Omokore’s Atlantic Energy Drilling Concept
(AEDC) for the financing of six oil blocks operated by the Nigerian
Petroleum Development Company, the E&P subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), until the deal fell through last year.
Despite
its inability to get the federal government’s approval for the SAA
after a competitive tender, Salvic has turned its sights on providing
services as a sub-contractor to Shoreline Natural Resources Limited and
its partner, UK-based Heritage Oil, operator of Oil Mining Lease (OML)
30.
OML
30, located 35km east of Warri in Delta State, is a joint venture oil
block held by NPDC (55 per cent) and Shoreline/Heritage (45 per cent).
Shoreline/Heritage
acquired their interest in the block from Shell in 2013 during the
second round of asset sales held by the Anglo/Dutch multinational and
its partners.
A
senior official of Shoreline confirmed that Salvic, with its track
record in E&P operations, has helped to ramp up production in the
prolific oil block, which has 11 fields, to 60,000 barrels per day.
The
Shoreline official also confirmed that his company has leased some
space in Alpha 1 for proper integration of its personnel with the staff
of Salvic.
The
Shoreline oil block was one of many affected by heightened militancy in
the western Niger Delta last year, especially when the Niger Delta
Avengers (NDA) bombed the 87km Trans Forcados Pipeline (TFP), forcing
many producers in the region to shut-in production.
The
TFP was eventually repaired by Abbeycourt, another firm founded by
Orjiako in the 1990s, enabling Shell to reopen the Forcados Oil Terminal
(FOT) in Delta State.
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