Buhari Makes U-Turn, Reverses Approval For Seplat To Acquire All ExxonMobil Shares

Approval by President Muhammadu Buhari granting Seplat the go-ahead to acquire all the shares of ExxonMobil Corporation has been reversed.

Presidential Spokesman, Garba Shehu, made this known in an interview with Premium Times on Wednesday.

Shehu said the president has decided to reverse the acquisition in line with the position of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) in the deal.

The presidential spokesman said earlier confusion was because various agencies involved in the decision had not coordinated well among themselves.

He said: “The confusion over ExxonMobil shares was because the various agencies involved in the decision had not coordinated well among themselves and having looked at all of the facts with all of the ramifications, the president decided the position of the regulator is to be supported.”

Recall that the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, in a statement on Monday revealed that President Buhari had consented to the acquisition of Exxon Mobil shares by Seplat Energy Offshore Ltd.

Adesina said that Buhari authorised the move in his capacity as Minister of Petroleum as a way to attract Foreign Direct Investment to the country.

However, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission in a statement on Monday evening disagreed with the President over the approval, describing it as a regulatory matter.

In a corporate filing on Wednesday, Seplat Energy said it followed due process in the acquisition of the assets. It also denied alleged impropriety in the process of securing ministerial consent to the acquisition of the ExxonMobil assets.

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