By Temitope Ajayi
Peter Obi has possibly become the most fact-checked politician in Nigeria because he lies easily and throws up incorrect data just to impress fickle minds.
Peter Obi said he invested $20m dollars of Anambra’s money in SABMiller in 2012 when he was Governor and the investment is now worth $100m.
By annual report of the company and as confirmed by Anambra State Commissioner for Finance, Ifeatu Onejeme, Peter Obi didn’t invest $20m in SABMiller as he often claim.
In 2012, he actually invested sum of N1,955,535, 247 in Intafact Beverages Limited, a green-field brewery in Onitsha owned by SABMiller.
With the prevailing exchange rate then at N155/$1 it amounted to $12,616,356.43 in dollar term. Having consolidated it’s 4 breweries in Nigeria under one business, Anambra State currently holds 407,321,264 ordinary shares of International Breweries Plc in exchange for its investment in Intafact Beverages Limited.
According to Anambra State Commissioner for Finance on Tuesday, June 21, 2022, the value of the state’s investment in the company is not anywhere near $10m not to talk of $100m. A share of SABmiller on NGX/Nigeria Stock Exchange at the close of trading on Monday June 20, 2022 was valued at N5.50k
The Commissioner says: “Based on the CBN I&E exchange rate of N415.75/$1 on June 20, 2022, this investment was valued at an equivalent of approximately $5,388,495.37 and at N604/$1 parallel market rate, the value currently will stand at
$3,709,051.24.”
As things stand today, Anambra State government, and by extension the people, lost half of the money invested in 2012.