Nigeria has pulled the first portion of a planned $5 billion derivatives financing arrangement with the United Arab Emirates’ biggest lender, according to a Bloomberg report, the first reported drawdown under a facility whose structure and disclosure have drawn questions.

Citing people familiar with the matter who asked not to be named, Bloomberg said the country had taken about $1.5 billion over the past fortnight through a Total Return Swap with First Abu Dhabi Bank, pressing on with a transaction criticized for being opaque.

Efforts to confirm the drawdown independently with the Federal Ministry of Finance were unsuccessful, as calls and messages to Finance Minister Taiwo Oyedele went unanswered.

Approved by the National Assembly earlier this year, the facility forms part of the government’s push to widen its sources of external finance and cut borrowing costs, with proceeds set aside for refinancing debt and supporting infrastructure. The limited public disclosure around its terms has drawn attention, and both the IMF and Fitch recently warned that while derivative based financing can boost liquidity, it should be managed transparently to limit fiscal and debt risks.

The naira, meanwhile, held broadly steady, closing at N1,380.9 to the dollar at the official window and N1,390 on the parallel market for a third straight week. Analysts credited strong fundamentals, external reserves rising to $51.2 billion and continued portfolio inflows, even as investors rotated into dollar assets ahead of Dangote Refinery’s planned dollar fundraising and crude prices slipped to around $76 a barrel.

Agusto & Co analyst Ayokunle Olubunmi said the pressure on the naira was tied largely to investors positioning for the Dangote dollar transaction rather than politics, a view echoed by VNL Capital’s Jeremiah Ubah, who said operators were taking profits in equities and converting naira to dollars to take part in the deal.