Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has criticised President Bola Tinubu’s administration for allegedly favouring Oando Plc, a company owned by the President’s nephew, in the approval process for acquiring onshore assets of AGIP and ENI.
Atiku questions why the transaction received “accelerated approval” while other deals, such as the Shell/Renaissance and Mobil/Seplat transactions, are experiencing delays.
Additionally, Atiku slammed the Tinubu administration’s subsidy regime, calling it a “sham” based on the recent financial statement released by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).
He also accused President Tinubu of making false claims about removing petrol subsidies during his recent visits to New York, Qatar, and France.
Atiku’s statement, released through his media aide Paul Ibe, expresses concerns about the administration’s transparency and fairness in its decision-making processes.
“Obviously, this is not a man who is serious about attracting FDI. More worrisome is that he is not even brave enough to admit that subsidy is being paid. The NNPCL admits that N7.8tn is owed to the national oil company by the Nigerian government.
“IMF estimates that subsidy payments this year will constitute 3% of GDP, which is about $7.5bn. This will be about N11.8tn. Yet, the petrol scarcity continues to linger while the Tinubu administration continues to frustrate the Dangote Refinery and even its own NNPCL facilities.
“Obviously, the subsidy regime has become an even wider conduit pipe through which monies for funding the 2027 election will come from.”
The former Vice President emphasised his claim that Oando was receiving unfair and favorable treatment in the oil and gas industry, which he believes is harming more capable and deserving investors.
Atiku also knocked the House of Representatives for failing to take proper action on the NNPCL which, he noted, has now gone ahead to “mortgage the country’s national oil assets to vested interests”.
Atiku said, “Within just eight months, the Nigerian Upstream Production Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) approved a deal which saw the divestment of ENI/AGIP onshore assets to Oando.
“Within that same period, Nigeria controversially withdrew all litigation against Shell/ENI in the OPL 245 scandal in what has been described as a quid pro quo.
“However, the attempt by SEPLAT to buy Mobil’s onshore assets has continued to stall for the last three years even as the consent letter remains on Tinubu’s table. The deal between Renaissance and Shell continues to stall. In fact, the only deal that has fully scaled through so far is the one involving Oando. We now know why it got accelerated approval.
“Ideally, democracy ought to be government of the people, for the people, and by the people. But democracy in Nigeria has become the government of Tinubu, by Tinubu, and for Tinubu and his family members.”
Oando PLC had, on Thursday, finalised its acquisition of Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC) from Italian energy major, Eni, marking a significant achievement in its long-term growth strategy.
The total consideration for the deal is $783 million, which includes reimbursement and consideration for the asset, as confirmed by Oando in a Press release.
Commenting, Wale Tinubu, Group Chief Executive, Oando PLC, said: “Today’s announcement is the culmination of 10 years of toil, resilience, and an unwavering belief in the realisation of our ambition since the 2014 entry into the Joint Venture via the acquisition of Conoco-Philips Nigerian Portfolio.”
Atiku added, “In July 2023, the House of Representatives, following the adoption of a motion moved by Miriam Onuoha directed NNPC Ltd to suspend the acquisition of OVH assets pending an investigation by its committee.
“The House ad-hoc committee requested the NNPC Ltd to furnish it with information about registration documents/history from CAC for OVH, Nueoil, and NNPC Retail Limited (NRL), Board Resolution of NNPC Ltd on purchase of OVH, Audited Financial Statement and Management Accounts from 2015 to date of OVH, Nueoil, NRL and NNPC Ltd and the payroll from 2015 to date for NRL and OVH; Board Resolution of NRL/CHQ for movement of head office to Lagos and evidence of Tax Payments for NRL and OVH from 2015 to date.”
“The NNPC ignored all these and went ahead to transfer its ownership and properties in its retail arm to OVH, thereby mortgaging the future of Nigerians,” Atiku added.
