The Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki responded to allegations by the Finance Minister, Zainab Ahmed, over FAAC top-up in March, saying that the state will not “join issues with the Minister” but urges the FG to end the current monetary rascality.

The Edo State Governor disclosed this in a statement on Thursday morning, stating that:

• While we do not want to join issues with the Finance Ministry, we believe it is our duty to offer useful advice for the benefit of our country.
• The Finance Minister should rally Nigerians to stem the obvious fiscal slide facing our country.
• Rather than play the Ostrich, we urge the government to take urgent steps to end the current monetary rascality, so as to prevent the prevailing economic challenge from degenerating further.

The Governor added that he believes the imperative to approach the Nigerian project “with all sense of responsibility and commitment and not play to the gallery”.

In case you missed it

Nairametrics reported that The Nigerian Government stated the claim made by the Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, that N60 billion was printed as top-up for the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) in the month of March is untrue.

“What we distribute at FAAC is revenue that is generated by NNPC, FIRS, Customs… It is not true to say we printed money to distribute at FAAC,” Finance Minister, Zainab Ahmed said.

Nigerian property group, Persianas, will take over Shoprite’s operations in Nigeria after a bidding process was concluded. The company is reportedly arranging debt to finalise the deal.

This was disclosed in an exclusive report by Reuters on Wednesday. According to the report, the deal was confirmed by banking sources.

What the report says

• Persianas Properties emerged as the buyer after a bidding process, and the company is arranging debt for the buyout.
• MBO Capital and KPMG advised Persianas, while FBNQuest is arranging debt.

Bloomberg also reported that Shoprite’s owners valued its sale at N30 billion; however, the deal between Persianas and Shoprite remains undisclosed.

READ: NSE fines Mortgage bank, Conoil, others over N1 billion for account filing default

What you should know

Persianas Group owns the Palms Shopping Mall in Lagos, which also contains a Shoprite outlet.

Recall Nairametrics reported last week that the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Council (FCCPC) had said it was not aware that Shoprite was exiting Nigeria, but that there was a pending application for a merger/acquisition involving it.