Billionaire businessman Femi Otedola has dismissed fresh allegations linking him to Nigeria’s fuel subsidy scandal, describing the claims as false and malicious.
The allegations were made by Umar Sani, a former media aide to ex-Vice President Namadi Sambo, who accused Otedola of complicity in the Petroleum Subsidy Fund scheme.
In a strongly worded statement, Otedola stressed that Zenon Petroleum and Gas Limited only traded in diesel, a deregulated product outside the subsidy regime, and therefore could not have made subsidy claims.
He added that he was the whistleblower who first exposed the fraud under President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, and has now filed a N1 billion libel suit against Sani.
See the full excerpt of the statement below.
My attention has been drawn to a mischievous and malicious publication written by one Umar Sani, a former Special Adviser (Media) to former Vice President Namadi Sambo, attempting to twist facts and drag my name into disrepute and allegations of complicity in the subsidy fraud. His insinuations are false, baseless, and a shameless attempt to pander to lies and rewrite history. Let me set the record straight for the overall benefit of the discerning public.
On claiming from the Petroleum Subsidy Fund (PSF)
Zenon Petroleum and Gas Limited was wholly an importer and trader of diesel with a market share in excess of 90%, never traded in Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), and as such could not have claimed a subsidy under the Petroleum Subsidy Fund scheme.
Diesel had been long deregulated even before the adoption of the PS,F and did not fall under petroleum products to be claimed under the PSF regime. Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) was the only product that was eligible for claim under the Petroleum Subsidy Fund scheme in a bid by the Government to make the product available and affordable to all and sundry.
It is therefore shocking that someone like Umar Sani, who occupied a position of authority and responsibility, could display such ignorance of basic industry facts in public. I view this as either mischief (and taking advantage of the uneducated public) or a blatant display of gross ineptitude. If Diesel did not fall under the subsidy regime, how can Umar Sani then accuse Zenon Petroleum and Gas Limited of impropriety under the subsidy regime?
On Exposing the Subsidy Fraud
I was a member of President Goodluck Jonathan’s Economic Team. I am the one who first alerted the President to the monumental fraud being perpetrated by economic saboteurs in the PSF scheme. When he called the then Minister of Petroleum, she denied it. With my strong determination to stop the economic malaise and bleeding, I called Senator Bukola Saraki and reported the fraud to him. He took it to the floor of the Senate, and from there, the House of Representatives began its investigation.
These Statesmen are alive, and my assertions above can be corroborated if necessary. If I were complicit in subsidy theft, would I be the one to raise the alarm and blow the whistle on myself? That alone should question the motive of Umar Sani for his most recent publication on this matter.
On the Farouk Lawan affair
When it had become public industry knowledge that I was the whistleblower on the subsidy fraud, some of the perpetrators decided to fight back by using the House committee on the probe, headed by Hon Farouk Lawan, who tried to indict me without any basis. As they always say, it’s only natural for corruption to fight back.
The House Committee on the subsidy probe was now being manipulated by the subsidy fraudsters, thereby turning the probe panel into an extortion racket. When the harassment and blackmail became incessant on my person, I petitioned the authorities and worked with the Department of State Security (DSS) in a sting operation.
The money was provided by the DSS, duly marked, and handed over to me under security surveillance. I then gave it to Farouk Lawan in line with the sting operation.
That is on record. To twist that carefully documented operation into an indictment against me is laughable and only exposes the ignorance of Mr. Sani. You may be aware that the Hon Lawan was subsequently convicted and sentenced to 5 years’ imprisonment for bribery. The facts are very clear and public.
On the Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede report.
I implore President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to release the full Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede report on subsidy fraud as Nigerians deserve to know the truth. It is on record that the Presidency at the time called on the late EFCC Chairman, Ibrahim Lamorde, to halt the investigation. Let the report be made public so the real subsidy thieves can be unmasked.
On AMCON
The allegations and insinuations about my involvement with AMCON are again a demonstration of mischief and ineptitude on the part of Umar Sani. I wonder why someone who twists publicly available information to miseducate the populace.
I have never hidden the fact that I suffered financial losses from the global economic meltdown of 2008, resulting in a huge debt exposure to the Nigerian Financial Services Industry. The loans were sold to AMCON. I, in turn, gave up my assets worth hundreds of billions of Naira to settle my obligations under a court-ordered settlement.
It is on record that AMCON itself publicly commended my approach and told other debtors to follow my example. Court records are there for anyone seeking the truth to investigate. AMCON officials from that time are also alive today to confirm the truth. I even addressed this matter in my book, “Making it Big”, which was recently published and released to the public.
Libel action
Because of these deliberate lies and unfounded allegations, I have instructed my lawyers to file a N1 billion libel suit against Umar Sani. People must learn that reputations are not to be toyed with for cheap propaganda, and also to serve as a deterrent for other mischief makers in the future. I will go to every extent to achieve this.
To Mr. Sani and others who peddle these half-baked stories: go and read my book Making It Big, study the facts, and stop disgracing yourselves with ignorance.
I have nothing to hide, and I have always acted in the interest of truth and accountability. Those who benefited from subsidy fraud know themselves. I will not sit back and allow falsehood to be written into history.
