Revelation has emerged that the core investors in Cardinal Drilling Services Limited which has its loan facility at Access Bank Plc that has become a subject of corporate discussions since there was a court action on the closure of SEPLAT.
It was gathered that Cardinal Drilling Services was promoted by Mr. Austin Avuru, the immediate past CEO of SEPLAT and its chairman ABC Orjiako and their international Partners as investors.
The duo and their International Partners were said to have jointly put up about $45 million in equity investment in Cardinal Drilling Services, though none of these investors applied, managed or guaranteed the Cardinal Loan Facility in question at Access Bank.
However, a source said the company was not managed in any way by Avuru, Orjiako or by Seplat either directly or indirectly.
It was also learnt that contrary to the allegation that Orjiako crippled Diamond Bank, he and his associates invested over $30 million in Diamond Bank in 2006 during banking capitalisation in Nigeria.
It was disclosed that SEPLAT is not a party to Cardinal Drilling Services facility with Access Bank Plc. Avuru or Orjiako is also not party to the Cardinal Loan Facility.
Recall that on December 3, the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) was notified that the building in which SEPLAT Corporate Headquarters is located, at 16A Temple Road, Ikoyi, Lagos, was on December 2, 2020 sealed in connection with a court case by Access Bank against Cardinal Drilling Services Limited (Cardinal Drilling), a third-party providing drilling services to SEPLAT.
It is believed that Cardinal Drilling has outstanding loan obligations to Access Bank. However, SEPLAT is neither a shareholder in Cardinal Drilling, nor has outstanding loan obligations or guarantees to Access Bank and did not at any time make any commitments or guarantees in respect of Cardinal Drilling’s loan obligations to Access Bank.
The company strongly believes that there is no merit or justification for this action against it and has taken prompt legal action to vacate the court order pursuant to which the building was sealed.
“This action was taken by Access Bank without any prior notice to SEPLAT, as required under Nigerian law. SEPLAT will vigorously defend against this improper action to the full extent of the law and will seek all appropriate legal remedies”, according to a notice at the Nigerian Stock Exchange signed by Edith Onwuchekwa, Company Secretary and General Counsel, Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc.
Understandably, SEPLAT and Orjiako have filed actions in court to set the records straight.
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