BFIG Group has once again accused Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) of lining its path to taking possession of Aluminum Smelter Company of Nigeria (ALSCON) with thorns.
But the Director General of BPE, Mr Alex Okoh, debunked the claim, countering that BFIG was scheming to take over ALSCON for free.
BFIG President, Chief Reuben Jaja, who spoke with reporters in Abuja at the weekend said BPE deliberately frustrated BFIG’s attempts to take over ALSCON by altering the contents of the original Share Purchase Agreement (SPA).
According to him, the bureau reduced the Supreme Court sanctioned 58-page SPA from 58 pages to 16 pages to make things impossible for his group.
Jaja alleged that by reducing the SPA to 16 pages, most vital provisions including an important provision that addresses gas purchase agreement had been removed.
Although BFIG won the original bid in 2003, National Council on Privatisation (NCP) directed BPE to offer the company to Russell, a Russian company.
However, in judgement on July 6, 2012, the Supreme Court ordered BPE to return ALSCON to ALSCON, an American company.
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He faulted BPE’s claim that BFIG was presented with SPA on more than one occasion, but failed to make payment.
According to Jaja, “In 2012, after more than four months of the Supreme Court’s judgment, the BPE DG at the time agreed to give BFIG the same 58-page SPA given to UC RUSAL in 2006 to sign.
“The document contained almost all what BFIG agreed to as bidders at a special technical conference of all parties to the bid in 2004, including BPE and all the bidders.”
“In the meeting, it was agreed that whoever emerges winners will be invited by the BPE to negotiate the SPA, after which 15 working days will be allowed for the winner to make payment.
“Immediately, BFIG received the SPA, it did not waste time to sign it. This was in October 2012. In the transmittal letter to BPE, BFIG requested from BPE to provide its account coordinates to deposit the $41m initial payment.
“One month passed, BPE did not give any response. We wrote them a reminder, still, no response between October 2012 when BFIG returned the completed SPA and January 2013.
“Later, they wrote to apologise that they were organising so we can go and inspect the property and conduct a technical audit so that we know what we were buying.”
“When the then BPE DG refused to change the decision, she was fired from office. After four months, all of a sudden, BPE abandoned the 58-page agreement we had signed and returned to them.”
“The new DG then (Benjamin Dikki) came in January. His first job was to give BFIG a brand new agreement.
“This time, only 16 pages. BFIG reviewed this 16-page document and wondered how BPE dropped the agreement from 58 pages approved by the Supreme Court to just 16 pages.
“In the new agreement, key attachments, including the source of gas supply, were removed. Everything that would make BFIG successful were carefully uprooted by BPE from the agreement.”
He said based on the 16-page SPA, BFIG was of the view that the project was not commercially viable, as no serious commercial bank would want to finance such transaction.
“To worsen the situation, BFIG had already submitted the other signed 58-page agreement to its Board of Directors, bankers, investors and lawyers in the United States. BPE had assured us in writing that all was well.
“But, that is where the new fight started after the Supreme Court ruling.”
He also alleged that some top government officials offered him bribe with a view to dropping his bid for ALSCON.
“They offered me $35m to forget about BFIG’s right.” In his reaction, however, Director General of BPE, Mr Alex Okoh described the allegations as totally false. He said Jaja had already signed the agreement as ordered by the Supreme Court.
“Why did he sign it if it was the wrong one. He signed in December last year. We have a copy of the agreement and we can show it to the press if he wants.
“The agreement he signed stipulates that he makes payment within 15 days. He has not made any payment.
“It is very unfortunate that we can allow this kind of irresponsibility from a Nigerian who has done everything to castrate such a vital national asset with no intention to change his behaviour. It is very unfortunate. I will not condone it.
“By the way, why would I offer him money. It is ludicrous. I am the seller of the asset, not a buyer. Why would I offer him money? For what? Where do I get the money to offer him and for what purpose.”
Okoh accused Jaja of wanting to take over ALSCON for free.
“Let him just bring the money, period. To try and use cheap blackmail to acquire such a strategic national asset for free or through the back door is disingenuous, to be frank. It’s not going to happen. No amount of cheap blackmail will make that happen,” he said.
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