AP Share Price Manipulation: NSE, SEC, House of Reps side Dangote

“He should be in prison,” Otedola said.

Not a few investors in the shares of Africa Petroleum Plc and other mainstream investors were scandalised with the sanctions considered appropriate by the Council of the Nigerian Stock Exchange in chastising the individuals and organisations that were involved in Nigeria’s most publicly denounced case of share price manipulations.

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OTEDOLA, DANGOTE’S RELATIONSHIP GETTING MESSIER: AP N40BILLION PUBLIC OFFER MONEY TRAPPED IN BANKS

When a very top official of the National Accounting Standard Board told a gathering that a total N40billion being part of the money raised during the public offer of African Petroleum is trapped in some Nigerian banks, then there must be a cause for concern.
The offer which had closed since September last year has […]

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FINALLY, OTEDOLA BREAKS MONOPOLY WITH 2MILLION TONNES OF CEMENT

The persistent rise in the price of cement, an essential building material, may be heading for a reverse with the Federal Government approval granted Femi Otedola to import 2million tonnes of cement into the country.

The cement which a source close to the CEO of Zenon Oil and Gas said will soon land in Nigeria, is believed to be one of the Federal Government strategies to in the short run avail the Nigerian market cheap supply of cement.

“Of course, the Federal Government is aware of the fact that hitherto, the supply side of cement is controlled by a close knit community of suppliers who had turned cement supply into an open monopoly.” The source said.

“Though Federal Government had lifted the ban on importation of cement since January as part of the strategies to correct the shortfall in the supply of cement believed to be in the region of 11.5million tones, the efforts of the first batch of companies granted the right to import have not shown yet in the market. I think due to a combination of liquidity crunch in the nation’s financial sector and the global financial crises which have made access to credit a tasking process, most of these players might not have been able to bring in enough supplies of cement into the country. Naturally, the Federal Government had to make overtures to Mr. Otedola, who, they think has enough liquidity to break the strangle hold of the monopoly that cement supplies had turn.” The source revealed.

The source further added that the importation of cement by Otedola is going to be a continued process until the price of cement becomes affordable to the common man.

“This, I think, is going to be the first in the process to crash the price of cement. I am informed that the price of the first importation to be undertaken by Otedola should sell between N600 and N700, the calculation has been done. I think that after this consignment, others would be brought into the country until the price of a bag of cement becomes affordable to the average intending home owner.” The source added.

In response to a question on the impact of wholesale importation of cement to local cement manufacturing capacity, the source reasoned that the importation policy is an interim measure to assuage the difficulties in the building sector.

“I don’t think it is proper to allow Nigerians to wallow in the difficulty of unrealized dreams in real estate because local capacity has to be protected. Nobody is stopping the growth of local manufacturers, I know that government is encouraging that aspect of the sector by also opening up the space to intending manufacturers who are also given adequate incentive, the importation is an interim measure as I had said, to bring down price in the immediate.” The source submitted.

CEMENT PRICE WAR STARTS NEXT WEEK: OTEDOLA TO SELL AT N700 PER BAG, JIMOH IBRAHIM NICON CEMENT ON THE WAY

Who holds the Ace?

When the Federal Government approved licenses for 13 Nigerian firms to import bagged cement into

Nigeria, the Government’s stated intension was to put an end to short supply and ensure the crash of price of the product in the country. Yet, most Nigerians would not still believe the prospect of a crash in price of cement, because, according to cross section of Nigerian residents in Lagos State, when prices of commodities go up in the country they don’t often come down.

Some suggested that a cartel had perfected its stranglehold on the supply side of cement that no matter what measure the government puts in place, as it had over the years, the strong cartel had always found a way to undercut supplies thereby sustaining high prices for the essential building material.

This state of helplessness may, from next week, start changing with the direct involvement of Mr. Femi Otedola to get involved on the supply side and manufacturing of cement. According to a source close to the Epe-Lagos State born businessman who had made a name for himself in the petroleum downstream sector, Otedola’s first shipment of his Otedola Portland Cement (OPC) would be launched sometime next week with a strong identification with Nigerians desires to be able to buy cement at affordable price.

“I can surely tell you that OPC is about being offered to Nigerians and in the character of chairman (Otedola) the product has to be affordable. I think the retail price that is been considered for the 50kg bag of cement is N700. That is about 40 percent slash from the current market price. Chairman believes that this price slash will help break the backbone of the monopolistic cartel that had dominated the cement market for a long time.” The source that is directly involved in the landing of OPC confided in FORTUNE & CLASS.

Otedola has a record of price dumping, a business model that another source in his Zenon Oil & Gas Company said, has by and large, impacted on the mass of Nigerians.

“For Otedola, a little profit is better than huge gains. You remember he blazed diesel price slash in Nigeria when the petroleum product became so scarce and expensive. It is simply about adding value for Nigerians who are in dire needs of products that are, otherwise, common goods but had now turned essential because of the activities of monopoly inclined operators.” The source said.

“I can tell you that we are planning an elaborate launch of Otedola Portland Cement starting from Mushin, the densely populated suburb of Lagos which would symbolize the populism appeal of the cement.” The source directly involved in the cement landing explained.   

 “Even beyond this, I can also reveal to you that Chairman is putting finishing touches to selling petrol at his AP stations for N59. You can expect this in the next six weeks. This would naturally force competitors to also reduce price for the benefit of Nigerians.”

Coming on the heels of recent rapprochement between Otedola and Barrister Jimoh Ibrahim, Chairman of the NICON Group, might have also persuaded the lawyer businessman to consider diversifying into cement manufacturing in the country.

“The idea is to flood the Nigerian market heavily.” The source informed. “What Chairman told Barrister Ibrahim is that if he comes into the supply side he would also be helping to make cement available to Nigerians at affordable prices. I am aware that very soon Barrister Ibrahim will be announcing the arrival of NICON Cement.”