Federal Govt Reopens Dangote's Obajana Cement, Parties To Continue Talks

Blessed

The Kogi State Government ordered the closure of the Dangote Cement Plant in Obajana due to questions regarding the legitimacy of the company's acquisition of the disbanded Obajana Cement Company.

The outcome came about as a result of a National Security Council directive to reopen the cement mill that was issued on Friday.

Rauf Aregbesola, the interior minister, told reporters that the Dangote Group and the Kogi State Government had achieved an understanding over the necessity of reopening the factory. He urged both parties to uphold the understanding.

After a 10-day dispute between the two parties on the legitimacy of the purchase of the cement plant, the plant was finally reopened.

In a series of statements by its Commissioner of Information, Kingsley Fanwo, the Kogi State Government had maintained that the acquisition of the cement plant by Africa’s richest man did not follow due process.

The state government, backed by its House of Assembly, maintained that process involving the acquisition of the plant translated to asset-grabbing.

On its part, Dangote Industries Limited, the parent company of Dangote Cement Plc had maintained that its acquisition of Obajana Cement Company followed due process.

A statement by DIL insisted that Kogi State had no equity interest in Obajana Cement Plc.

The statement noted that the plant and machinery were conceived, designed, procured, built, and paid for solely by DIL, well after it acquired the shares in Obajana Cement Company.

The company further said that the land on which the Obajana Cement Plant is built was acquired solely by Dangote Industries Limited in 2003, and that taxes paid to Kogi Govt yearly since production commenced in 2007.

The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, the Nigeria Labour Congress, the Nigerian Economic Summit Group, the Trade Union Congress, and the Shareholders Associations in Nigeria, had also waded into the conflict.

Make Money Online By Reading And Commenting On News Daily >> https://bit.ly/3rL7z0I