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Otedola files ₦1bn suit against Umar Sani over subsidy fraud allegations
Nigerian billionaire businessman and philanthropist, Femi Otedola, has vehemently denied allegations linking him to subsidy fraud, describing the claims as “false, baseless, and a shameless attempt to pander to lies and rewrite history.”
Otedola, who is the former Chairman of Forte Oil Plc and the current Executive Chairman of Geregu Power Plc, was reacting to a publication credited to Umar Sani, former Special Adviser on Media to ex-Vice President Namadi Sambo, alleging complicity in the Petroleum Subsidy Fund (PSF) scandal.
READ ALSO: Otedola sheds weight in in Geregu, nets N817.297million after selling shares
In a strongly worded statement, Otedola dismissed the claims as mischievous and malicious. He said:
“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.”
Setting the record straight, Otedola explained that his company, Zenon Petroleum and Gas Limited, never participated in the subsidy scheme as it only dealt in diesel, which had long been deregulated.
“Zenon Petroleum and Gas Limited was wholly an importer and trader of diesel with a market share in excess of 90%. We never traded in Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) and as such could not have claimed for subsidy under the Petroleum Subsidy Fund scheme,” he clarified.
He expressed shock that a former government official such as Umar Sani could “display such ignorance of basic industry facts in public,” adding that the accusations were either “a blatant display of gross ineptitude” or a deliberate attempt to misinform the public.
Otedola further recounted his role as a whistleblower in exposing subsidy fraud during the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan. According to him, he was the one who alerted the President and subsequently reported to Senator Bukola Saraki, which triggered legislative probes.
“If I was complicit in subsidy theft, would I be the one to raise the alarm and blow the whistle on myself?” he asked.
The billionaire businessman also revisited his ordeal with the Farouk Lawan-led House of Representatives subsidy probe committee, describing it as an extortion attempt that backfired.
“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.”
Otedola urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to release the full Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede report on subsidy fraud, which he believes will expose the “real subsidy thieves.”
He also addressed claims relating to his past financial obligations with the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), clarifying that he had settled his debts by surrendering assets worth hundreds of billions of naira.
“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,” he stated.
Otedola confirmed that he has instructed his lawyers to institute a ₦1 billion libel suit against Umar Sani to protect his reputation.
“Because of these deliberate lies and unfounded allegations, I have instructed my lawyers to file a ₦1 billion libel suit against Umar Sani. People must learn that reputations are not to be toyed with for cheap propaganda,” he warned.
Concluding, Otedola maintained that he has nothing to hide and would not allow falsehood to be written into history.
“I have always acted in the interest of truth and accountability. Those who benefitted from subsidy fraud know themselves. I will not sit back and allow falsehood to be written into history.”
The echoes of the drums rolled out to celebrate the rescue of the 44 teachers and students, kidnapped from some schools in Oyo State, after 56 days in the bush, would surely be disrupted abruptly, with the divergent echoes of a fresh abduction, this time coming from Kogi State.
Reports indicate that the gunmen, struck on Tuesday at the Government Secondary School, Odo-Ekina, in Dekina Local Government Area of the state, abducting four students, the school principal and a National Examinations Council (NECO) ad hoc staff member.
Authorities of the Kogi State Police Command, who immediately unleashed their operatives in hot pursuit of the abductors, said the attack occurred at about 5:25 p.m. while the students were writing their NECO examination.
Saliu Oyiza Afusat, an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) and spokesman of the command, said a combined team of police personnel and other security agencies has launched a search-and-rescue operation following the incident.
Informing that one of the students was actually rescued immediately, she said efforts were ongoing to secure the release of the remaining victims and apprehend the attackers, adding that Naziru Bello Kankarofi, the state Commissioner of Police, alongside the Brigade Commander and the State Security Adviser to the Governor, Commodore Jerry Omodara (Rtd), were already on the way to the scene for an on-the-spot assessment.
Oil prices are expected to go down now with the announcement of Donald Trump, US President that he will no longer impose a 20 percent “safe passage” fee on ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
The POTUS, hinged his reversal of the decision on the intervention from some Gulf countries, who pleaded with him not to toe the line due to the massive economic impact the decision would make on the region.
Indeed, oil prices had shot up immediately Trump announced the new levy on Monday while declaring the US ‘the guardians of the Hormuz strait,’ a measure which he said was to pay for the cost of guarding the volatile area in order keep supply of oil flowing.
Reports said that Gulf allies of the US worked frantically to get Trump on the phone in time to talk him out of the idea altogether, while a flurry of appeals came from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Qatar.
In response, the POTUS, posting on his Truth Social platform, wrote: “Based on highly productive conversations with Middle East leadership, I have decided to replace the 20% United States Reimbursement Fee with Trade and Investment Deals that the various Gulf States will be making into the United States.”
Trump, who said the investments would be “MASSIVE but, at the same time, extraordinarily good for them, and their future,” added that the deals would see factories, plants, and equipment pour into the US at “Historic levels.”
The Gulf nations have committed to invest trillions of dollars in the US, though it remains unclear how much of that they will actually spend over the next several years.
Meanwhile, the US continues to bomb Iran in what appears to be a resumption of active conflict between both countries, despite an ongoing roadmap to end the conflict.
Reports say operatives of the Osun State Police Command, and those of the Department of State Services (DSS) had tracking the trail of Adeniyi Adeyemi, controversial Director General of the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), for weeks, before he was eventually pulled out of his hole on Tuesday.
However, the duo, were said to have pulled back after failing to track him through his mobile phones, which he had reportedly switched off for about two days, making it difficult to locate him, leaving the stage for the members of the Police Intelligence Response Team (PI-RT) led by Moses Lohor, a Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP).
Lohor, said to have previously served as the Commander of the Anti-Kidnapping Squad of Osun State, and reported to have been involved in high-profile security operations and controversies, after taken over fielded his men to pick up signals from their well-oiled signal networks.
Regarded by many Osun residents as one of the key security officers who contributed significantly to the peace and stability enjoyed in Ilesa and other parts of the state during his tenure, he was said to have relied on his contacts before his transfer out of the state, said to have raised concerns from the public about the security situation he would be leaving behind.
His exit from the state was said to be hinged on an incident in 2024, in which he allegedly shot one Iyanda Alowonle, then Chairman of Osun State Motor Transport System, in the stomach at the police station in the state prompting an order for his arrest by then Inspector General of Police (IGP).
His effort was said to have paid off when he successfully tracked down the controversial PFIPC, boss, who was seen on Tuesday evening, in a shot video on social media undergoing interrogation, and eventually handed him over to Ibrahim Gotan, Commissioner of Police in the state.
The PUNCH quoted one of the sources as saying: “The arrest (of Adeyemi) took place on Tuesday morning by the IRT squad, who immediately moved him to Abuja. After he was arrested, he was taken to Ibadan and from there to Abuja.”
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