By Victor Balogun
Copyright independent
…Business Mogul Narrates How He Alerted Jonathan, Saraki…Vows To Pursue N1bn Damages Against Ex-Presidential Aide
Nigerian businessman, Femi Ot-edola, has hit back at allegations linking him to the fuel subsidy scam, describing the claims by Umar Sani, a former aide to Vice President Namadi Sambo, as “malicious lies” and disclosing he has instructed his lawyers to file a N1 billion libel suit.
Recalling his role in exposing the rot in Nigeria’s fuel subsidy regime, Otedola said he was the first to alert President Goodluck Jonathan and Senator Bukola Saraki of the fraud at the time, wondering how he could be accused of benefiting from the same scam he blew the whistle on.
Rejecting Sani’s attempts to link him with the subsidy scan-dal, Otedola declared that Zenon Petroleum, his company, never traded in petrol and therefore could not have accessed the subsidy fund, stressing that allegations to the contrary amount to ignorance and mischief.
He appealed to President Bola Tinubu to release the full report by the Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede pan-el carried out under the Goodluck Jonathan administration on the controversial fuel subsidy regime.
In a statement on Saturday, Otedola insisted that Nigerians deserve to know the truth about those who looted public funds under the Petroleum Subsidy Fund (PFA) scheme which lasted several years.
“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 Economic and Financial Crimes Commis-sion (EFCC) Chairman, Ibrahim Lamorde, to halt the investigation. Let the report be made public so the real subsidy thieves can be unmasked,” Otedola stated.
The renowned philanthropist was reacting to an allegation by Sani, a former presidential aide, who said that at the peak of the subsidy regime, Otedola, through his company, Zenon Petroleum and Gas Ltd, benefited from the scam he’s now criticising.
Sani stated he had empirical evidence showing that Otedola controlled as much as 90 percent of diesel imports and up to 40 percent of other products at the time. “The same system he now condemns was one in which he was deeply entrenched and from which he personally benefited immensely.”
Riled by the imputation, Ot-edola in the statement, disclosed that he has already instructed his lawyers to slam a N1 billion suit on Sani for defaming him, maintaining that he only sold diesel which had no subsidy at the time he controlled the market in Nigeria.
“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 com-plicity in the subsidy fraud. His in-sinuations 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.
“Zenon Petroleum and Gas Limited was wholly an importer and trader of diesel with a mar-ket share in excess of 90 percent, never traded in Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) and as such could not have claimed for subsidy under the Petroleum Subsidy Fund scheme. Diesel had been long deregulated even before the adoption of the PSF and did not fall under petroleum products to be claimed under the PSF regime.
“PMS was the only product that was eligible for claim under the PSF 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 un-educated public) or a blatant dis-play 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,” Otedola asked.
Writing on the process that led to the exposure of the subsidy fraud, Otedola stated that he was indeed a member of President Goodluck Jonathan’s Economic Team and was the one who first alerted the president of the mon-umental fraud being perpetrated by economic saboteurs under the PSF scheme.
“When he (Jonathan) called the then Minister of Petroleum, she denied it. With my strong de-termination to stop the economic malaise and bleeding, I called Sen-ator Bukola Saraki and reported the fraud to him. He took it to the floor of the Senate, and from there the House of Representatives be-gan its investigation.
“These statesmen are alive and my assertions above can be corroborated if necessary. If I was 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,” he pointed out.
When it became public indus-try knowledge that he (Otedola) was the whistleblower on the sub-sidy fraud, he said that some of the perpetrators decided to fight back by using the House Com-mittee on the probe, headed by Farouk Lawan who tried to indict him 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 be-ing manipulated by the subsidy fraudsters and thereby turning the probe panel into an extortion racket. When the harassment and blackmail became incessant on my person, I petitioned the au-thorities and worked with the De-partment of State Security (DSS) in a sting operation.
“The money was provided by the DSS, duly marked, and hand-ed over to me under security sur-veillance. I then gave it to Farouk Lawan in line with the sting oper-ation. That is on record. To twist that carefully documented oper-ation into an indictment against me is laughable and only exposes the ignorance of Mr. Sani. You may be aware that Hon. Lawan was subsequently convicted and sentenced to five years impris-onment for bribery. The facts are very clear and public,” he added.
On the allegations and insin-uations about his Asset Manage-ment Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) involvement, Otedola described it as a demonstration of mischief and ineptitude on the part of Sani.
He wondered why someone would twist publicly available information to ‘miseducate’ the populace, highlighting that he had never hidden the fact that he (Otedola) suffered financial losses from the global economic meltdown of 2008 resulting in a huge debt exposure to the Nige-rian financial services industry.
The loans, he said, were sold to AMCON, after which he (Otedola) in turn gave up his assets worth hundreds of billions of naira to settle his obligations under a court-ordered settlement.
“It is on record that AMCON itself publicly commended my ap-proach and told other debtors to follow my example. Court records are there for anyone seeking the truth to investigate. AMCON offi-cials from that time are also alive today to confirm the truth. I even addressed this matter in my book, ‘Making it Big’ which was recent-ly published and released to the public,” Otedola said.
The businessman therefore emphasised that he would not al-low anyone to toy with his hard-earned reputation, announcing his decision to sue the former presidential aide over the alleged defamatory remarks.
“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 rep-utations are not to be toyed with for cheap propaganda and to serve as a deterrent for other mischief makers in the future. I will go to every extent that this is achieved.”
“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 igno-rance. I have nothing to hide and I have always acted in the inter-est of truth and accountability. Those who benefited from subsi-dy fraud know themselves. I will not sit back and allow falsehood to be written into history,” he maintained.
