The Anambra State Commissioner for Finance, Hon. Ifeatu Onejeme, has confirmed that Mr. Peter Obi invested the sum of US$12,616,356.43 for the state in Intafact Beverages Limited, a green-field brewery being set up in Onitsha by SABMiller Breweries of South Africa in 2012, while he was the governor of the state.
Hon. Onejeme made the clarification in a press release entitled “Dollar value of Peter Obi’s investment for Anambra is now about US$3.7 million or US$5.3 million depending on exchange rate“, amidst controversies generated by his principal, the Governor of Anambra State, Prof. Charles Chukwuma Soludo.
Governor Soludo had, during an interview on Channels Television on Thursday, claimed that the investment made by Peter Obi, who is currently the favoured candidate in the 2023 presidential election, “is next to nothing”.
Soludo, a professor of economics, said that Peter Obi’s “saving template” is useless and that the investments he made are worthless.
He further made disparaging remarks about Peter Obi, and according to him, it is useless saving money when people are dying in the hospitals.
He added that the investments Peter Obi made, who is considered the best Governor to emerge in modern Nigeria, are next to nothing.
In a press release, however, Onejeme confirmed the investment but said that it depreciated in value as the Naira capsized in value.
The Finance Commissioner noted that as at 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) based on the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) I&E exchange rate of N415.75/US$1.00.
Onejeme, in the statement, 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 N1,955,535,24700 (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.
Source: Newsband
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