President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the restoration of the leases on OMLs 123, 124, 126 and 137 to the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) which is in a production sharing contract with the Chinese government-0wned, Addax Petroleum.

This is in line with the current administration’s rule of law, fairness and enabling a stable business environment for businesses.

This disclosure is contained in a statement issued by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, through a series of tweet posts on his official Twitter handle on Friday, April 23, 2021.

The President directed the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) to retract the letter of revocation of the leases, while also directing NNPC to utilize contractual provisions to resolve issues in line with extant provisions of the Production Sharing Contract arrangement between NNPC and Addax.

READ: Senate to investigate 7 oil companies over refusal to remit $21 billion 

What the Presidential Media Aide is saying in the statement

The statement from Garba Shehu partly reads, ‘’In line with the current administration’s commitment to the rule of law, fairness and enabling a stable business climate for investment, President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the restoration of the leases on OMLs 123, 124, 126 and 137 to NNPC Group which is in production sharing contract with Addax Petroleum, a company wholly owned by Government of the People’s Republic of China on the blocks. The leases belonging to the Federation were revoked on March 30, 2021.

‘’This development reaffirms the commitment of President Buhari to the rule of law and sanctity of contracts. While directing the Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR to retract the letter pf revocation of the leases, the President also directed NNPC to utilize contractual provisions to resolve issues in line with the extant provisions of the Production Sharing Contract arrangement between NNPC and Addax.’’

READ: Total SA to explore crude on Nigeria’s border with Sao Tome

Shehu in his statement also said that the restoration of the blocks to NNPC will boost the organisation’s portfolio, thereby making the corporation to, in the long run, boost its crude oil production and in turn increase the revenue it generates to the Federation Account.

In case you missed it

It can be recalled that the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), had on March 31, 2021, revoked the 4 assets of Addax Petroleum Exploration Nigeria Limited, namely OMLs 123, 124, 126 and 137 due to the non-development of the assets by the company.

The DPR had earlier said that it has inaugurated a team of experts to evaluate the revoked assets of Addax Petroleum, which was in preparation for the formal handing over to the new operators- Kaztech/Slavic Consortium.

The oil sector regulator also pointed out that the move was in fulfilment of the Federal Government’s commitment to reactivating all moribund oil and gas support facilities across the country.

In line with the current administration’s commitment to the rule of law, fairness & enabling a stable business climate for investment, President @MBuhari has approved the restoration of the leases on OMLs 123, 124, 126 & 137 to @NNPCgroup,…

— Garba Shehu (@GarShehu) April 23, 2021

Have you ever wondered how many black people in the world have a net worth of 1 billion dollars and above? Well, there are just 15. Black people make up less than 1% of all billionaires in the world according to Visual Capitalist.

According to the latest Forbes list of the world’s billionaires, there are 2,755 billionaires in the world and there are just 15 blacks amongst them. Here is a quick list of who they are and what they do.

Michael Jordan ( $1.6bn )

Michael Jordan is an NBA all-star great who made his fortune by landing lucrative deals with Nike for the world-famous Jordan Sneakers. He also has a couple of other investments but the Nike deal is the elephant in the room.

READ: 3 unbelievable facts about Warren Buffet, the world’s smartest investor

Kanye West ($1.8bn)

The controversial musician and fashion mogul made the headlines recently for his richest black man in history claim. His biggest business move was a lucrative apparel deal with Adidas which propelled his net worth to $1.8bn. His net worth is expected to grow in the coming years with another lucrative GAP deal in the bag.

Alexander Karp ($2bn)

African American IT Billionaire is the co-founder and CEO of data-mining firm Palantir Technologies, which received early backing from CIA investment arm, In-Q-Tel. His company works for top government bodies which include the CIA and the FBI. He identifies as a White American but his mother is African American making him a mixed race.

READ: Fintech: Ex-Google employee becomes billionaire in 24 hours

Oprah Winfrey ($2.6bn )

Oprah Winfrey is the only woman on the list. She made her fortune hosting a 25-year-old hit show which she successfully turned into a media empire. She also launched her own cable channel where she owns 25.5%. Oprah Winfrey’s strongest asset is her brand which she has built and honed over the years.

Patrice Mosepe ( $3.1bn )

Patrice Motsepe is the richest black man in South Africa and the CEO of African Rainbow Minerals. He was the first black man to become a billionaire on the Forbes list. He bought low-priced mining shaft and made them profitable. He is also a sports investor owning one of South Africa’s top Football Clubs, Mamelodi Sundowns FC.

READ: Dangote set to earn N13 billion in dividend from his sugar business

David Stewart ( $3.7bn )

The IT mogul’s company World Wide Technology is worth over $12bn with big clients like Verizon, Citi bank and the Government. The company provides digital strategy, innovative technology and supply chain solutions to large public and private organizations around the globe.

Abdulsamad Rabiu ($4.8bn)

The Nigerian business Mogul owns a staggering 98.5% of BUA Cement. He is also the Chairman of BUA Group, a Nigerian conglomerate with large investments in cement production, real estate and sugar refining. He seems to be keeping close tabs on Aliko Dangote and recently had a brief squabble with him.

Robert F. Smith ( $5.2bn )

Robert F. Smith is the founder of one of the best performing private equity firms in the world. He founded Vista Equity Partners in 2000 which has over $50bn in assets. The company has perfected the art of investing in software companies that go on to do well. Robert F. Smith however has a little dent in Tax evasion cases with the US Government.

READ: Nigerians dominate Forbes’ black billionaires list

Mike Adenuga ( $6.2bn )

The second richest man in Nigeria is also the second richest black man in the world. The telecommunication and oil mogul is the arrowhead behind two of Nigeria’s foremost Companies Globacom and Conoil. Globacom has 55 million subscribers while Conoil operates 6 oil wells.

Aliko Dangote ( $11.5bn )

The richest black man in Nigeria, Africa and the world makes the majority of his fortune from his cement brand which is the largest in Africa. Alhaji Dangote owns an 85% stake in his publicly-traded company.

He is also into Salt and Sugar manufacturing and is currently building the largest crude oil refinery in Africa.

What you should know

• There are 15 black billionaires in the world and we just highlighted the top 10.
• Out of the 2,755 billionaires in the world, only 15 are black.
• The first, second and the fourth richest men are all Nigerians and they made a huge percentage of their money from the Nigerian market.