Following the fake news making the rounds in the media space about the purported investment by the former Governor of Anambra State, Mr. Peter Obi, the State Government has cleared the air about the fake figures being bandied around.
Setting the records straight, Ifeatu Onejeme, the Honourable Commissioner of Finance, said, “Given the repeated fake news about the current dollar value of the investment by the Peter Obi administration in SABMiller, it has become imperative to clarify the matter in public interest”.
“The Peter Obi Administration invested the sum of N1,955,535,247.00 (equivalent of approximately US$12,616,356.43 at the then average CBN exchange rate of N155.00/$1.00) in Intafact Beverages Limited, a green-field brewery being set up in Onitsha by SABMiller Breweries of South Africa in 2012. The Naira equivalent of this investment is stated and carried in the Reports of the State Accountant General with the Financial Statements for the fiscal years ended 31st December since then. These are public documents.”
“Intafact Beverages was subsequently consolidated into International Breweries Plc when the parent company, SABMiller of South Africa was acquired by Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev), the world’s largest brewer. Based on this development, AB InBev consolidated and merged all its brewery operations in Nigeria under International Breweries Plc and all shareholders of Intafact Beverages Limited, including Anambra State Government (ANSG), received shares of International Breweries Plc for their respective investments.”
“ANSG received and still holds 407,321,264 ordinary shares of International Breweries Plc in exchange for its investment in Intafact Beverages Limited . Based on the NGX closing price of N5.50 as at 20/6/22, these shares were valued at N2,240,266,952 on that date. Based on the Central Bank of Nigeria I&E exchange rate of N415.75/US$1.00 on same June 20, 2022, this investment was valued at an equivalent of approximately US$5,388,495.37 (and at N604/$1.00 parallel market rate, only US$3,709,051.24).”
“We do not want to join issues with the purveyors of the fake news but only need to state the facts to inform the public” the Honourable Commissioner concluded.
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