Corruption: Bizman May Lose Oil Wells To Bank

A business Executive, Jide Omokore, is at the verge of losing some of his oil wells to the management of Skye Bank following his alleged involvement in some corruption cases within and outside Nigeria.
The embattled businessman is said to be indebted to the bank to the tune of about N110bn at an exchange rate of one dollar to 315 naira.
The Tide gathered that the loans were obtained through three companies, namely, Atlantic Energy Drilling Concepts, (N56 billion) Cedar Oil and Gas, Ltd. (N224n) and Real Bank Ltd. (31b).
An online paper, the cable reports that the management of Skye Bank said the repayment of the first two obligations is tied to the controversial strategic alliance agreements (SAAs) with the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
Atlantic Energy was awarded SAAs by the Nigeria Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) Ltd., a subsidiary of NNPC to develop and finance production from OMLs 26,42.30 and 34, four oil blocks in all in 2011.
NPDC valued its stake in the oil wells at $1.8 billion then.
The shoddy deals have caught the attention of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) which has frozen the assets of Omokore over suspicion of money laundering and procurement fraud.
The report said the bank had already written to the Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo seeking access to the assets that were funded with loans from the bank.
The bank also sought assistance to take control of the oil assets of Omokore.
“We will require some political intervention working with NNPC to be able to bring the matter relating to Atlantic Energy to quick resolution”, part of the appeal letter read.