Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has asked President Bola Tinubu to explain to Nigerians the status of the $3.3 billion emergency crude oil repayment loan the Federal Government secured through the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Ltd. (NNPCL) in 2023 to support the naira and stabilize the foreign exchange market.
According to him, the loan was secured on August 16, 2023 through the NNPC Ltd.Atiku in a post on his X handle on Thursday also demanded explanation on the following: “Has the Federal Government accessed the loan?
“Is the loan in the government’s borrowing plan as approved by the National Assembly?
“Who are the parties to the loan, and what specific roles are they expected to play?
“What are the conditions to the loan, including tenor, repayment terms, the collateral, and the interest rate?
“And, lastly, why register an SPV [Special Purpose Vehicle] in the Bahamas, knowing the recent scandal of the country’s notoriety for warehousing unclean assets?
”Giving a background of the loan, the former Vice-president said what was curious about the transaction was that up till now, the federal government continues to keep mum about it, and the only information available to the public on the mega deal is coming only through unofficial sources from the NNPC.
“The deal is supposed to be a crude-for-cash loan arranged by the African Export-Import Bank.
“According to information available, a Special Purpose Vehicle called Project Gazelle Funding Limited, is driving the deal, and it was incorporated in the Bahamas.
“The SPV is the borrower, while the NNPC is the sponsor, with an agreement to pay with crude oil to the SPV in order to liquidate the loan at an interest rate that is a little over 12 percent,” he said.
Atiku added that what was even more confounding about the deal was why the federal government would register a company in the Bahamas, knowing full well the recent scandal of the Paradise Papers that involved that country.
“Curiously also, Nigeria’s current Barrels Produced Daily (BPD) is 1.38 million, and according to the Project Gazelle deal, Nigeria is to supply 90,000 Barrels of its daily production, starting from 2024 till it is up to 164.25 million barrels for the repayment of the loan.
“Now, this is where the details get disturbing because Nigeria’s benchmark for the sale of crude per barrel in 2024 is $77.96.
A simple multiplication of that figure by 164.25 will give us a whooping $12bn.
“It is on this note that we are calling on the federal government to speak up on this shady deal.
“It is inconceivable that the federal government will lead the country to take a loan of $3.3b with an interest rate that is not more than 12 per cent, but with estimated repayment amounting to $12bn.
“That is a humongous differential of about $7b between what is in the details of the deal on paper and what indeed is the reality.
”Atiku challenged the federal government to talk directly on these cloudy details behind the deal.
