Odogbolu Local Government in Ogun State has signed a $250 million Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Skillicorn Nigeria Limited, a company that was registered in Nigeria only two months ago.
The company has ties with Skillicorn Technologies Ltd, a firm in the United Kingdom which began the process of shutting down shortly before the deal was signed.
Skillicorn Nigeria was incorporated in Nigeria on May 8. The registration and incorporation happened just over a month before Skillicorn Technologies Ltd, the UK-linked company, filed an application to be struck off the company register on June 16.
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On June 24, the UK government issued a public notice — known as a First Gazette notice — confirming the strike-off process had begun.
Four weeks later, on July 22, Odogbolu Local Government signed the MoU with Skillicorn Nigeria.
Skillicorn Technologies had been a small UK-registered company since September 6, 2019, with only £2 in declared capital. It operated quietly for years, filing micro company accounts with little financial detail.
In June 2022, the company changed its registered office address to 128 City Road in London. That month, Paul William Skillicorn updated his official details as a director and as the individual with significant control of the company.
By July 2022, Manivannan Ramachandran had entered the picture. On July 5, he was listed as a person with significant control. On July 29, he was appointed as a director.
A few days later, on August 1, 2022, he was also listed as the company’s secretary. These changes were confirmed in the company’s annual statement filed on August 5, 2022.
One year later, on July 1, 2023, Paul Skillicorn ceased to be the person with significant control. On August 1, 2023, he formally resigned as a director. The company continued operating under Ramachandran’s control. Then, on October 16, 2024, the company moved its office address again.
In June, the company filed another set of micro accounts for the year ending September 2023. But just days later, on June 16, it began the process to shutdown by applying to be struck off. The First Gazette notice followed on June 24, confirming that the UK government had accepted the strike-off application.
Despite these developments, Odogbolu officials proceeded with the $250 million agreement. The signing took place at Tanimowo Villa, the home of Dr Babatunde Oyetola Diya, the local council chairman.
Traditional rulers, community leaders, councillors representing Wards 3 to 6, and international partners including Paul Skillicorn and Femi Adeniji attended the ceremony. Skillicorn and Adeniji joined virtually from the United States, according to a BusinessDay report.
The project, described as a New Circular Economy (NCE) initiative, promises to give residents access to electricity, water, toilets and kitchen gardens all at no cost.
The pilot phase will cost $21 million and begin with 80 households in Eyinwa. According to officials, the project will deliver 28 megawatts of electricity and create over 200 jobs.
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Skillicorn rebranded into Circularity Water, which claims to offer sustainable infrastructure across West Africa, India, Sri Lanka and parts of Europe. According to its social media profile, Circularity Water has been around since 2021.
The company says it uses advanced technology to recover water and nutrients from waste and to combine agriculture with clean energy through systems like agrivoltaics.
But there is no publicly available proof that Skillicorn Nigeria or its UK-linked predecessor have ever handled a project at this scale. Neither has it released financial records, fundraising details or a verifiable track record of previous projects.
The company’s only digital presence is through media reports of the Odogbolu project. Still, local officials have backed the deal, calling it a model partnership that will boost food production and improve living conditions.
The post SPOTTED: Ogun LG Signs $250m MoU With 2-Month-Old Firm Linked to Expired UK Company appeared first on Foundation For Investigative Journalism.