By Kingston Magare
Fromer Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s claim that President Bola Tinubu’s associates own OVH a retail outlet for fuel has been dismissed by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd.
Atiku in a statement Wednesday accused Tinubu’s cabal of hijacking the NNPCL acquired OVH, which was owned by Oando Plc run by Wale Tinubu a cousin to the President. Atiku said in a statement made available by his media aide, Paul Ibe:
“Just as Alpha Beta, Primero, and others act as Tinubu’s proxies in Lagos, managing critical sectors and generating revenue for him and his family, he has begun to replicate this at the federal level.
“In October 2022, just five months before the elections, the NNPC Retail controversially announced it had acquired OVH and all its filling stations. NNPC already had about 550 filling stations across the country but claimed it was enhancing its capacity by acquiring OVH, which had only 94 stations and 100 others leased.
“The NNPC did not disclose the purchase price of OVH or the terms of the acquisition. A Freedom of Information (FOI) request by Premium Times was also rejected by the NNPC, which claimed to be a private company despite still being government-owned.
“Following this dubious deal, Mele Kyari, was controversially retained as NNPC Group Chief Executive Officer despite his incompetence. Tinubu then appointed his former boss at Mobil, turned ally, Pius Akinyelure, as NNPC Chairman, while he himself took on the role of Minister of Petroleum.
“In a move that defies economic logic, OVH, previously owned by NNPC Retail, has now acquired NNPC Retail. This absurd situation means that Wale Tinubu’s Oando now owns 49 per cent of NNPC Retail.
“Moreover, Nigeria paid Wale Tinubu a significant sum to facilitate the Tinubu family’s acquisition of the national oil company. This represents a clear case of illogical business transactions and abuse of office by President Tinubu, who has prevented NNPC from becoming a public liability company as stipulated by the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).”
However, the NNPCL denied the accusations.
“At the time NNPC Ltd acquired OVH in 2022, Oando (in which Mr. Wale Tinubu has equity interest), had fully divested its equity in OVH to the two other partners – Vitol and Helios,” said a statement by NNPCL Chief Corporate Communications Officer, Olufemi Soneye.
“Oando actually began its divestment in 2016, with Vitol and Helios coming in as equity partners, leading to the change of name from Oando to OVH. In 2019, Oando fully divested its equity interest in OVH resulting in Vitol and Helios holding 50 per cent equity interests respectively.
“Upon acquisition of OVH by NNPC Ltd, both NNPC Retail Ltd and OVH effectively became subsidiaries of NNPC Ltd.
“However, based on professional advice and sound commercial considerations, NNPC Ltd opted to merge NNPC Retail Limited into OVH, and thereafter retain NNPC Retail Limited as the company name post-merger.
“Contrary to the false alarm raised, neither Wale Tinubu nor the President has any interest in the OVH acquisition.
“As a businessman, the former Vice President should know that effectiveness in business leadership is best measured by balance sheets and bottom lines rather than pedestrian considerations.”
