By Hadiza Suleman
Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, Friday, accused President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of transforming Nigeria into his personal enterprise.
Atiku stated this in a press release issued by his media adviser, Mr Paul Ibe.
In the statement, Atiku said President Tinubu is fast transforming Nigerian government into a personal property.
According to him, “The future of Nigerians has been effectively mortgaged to President Bola Tinubu, his family and associates. 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.”
He expressed surprise at the operations of the NNPC and how the government-owned oil company had put its retail arm under the control of OVH, a company in which Oando, led by Wale Tinubu, owns 49%.
He described Tinubu’s antics as “the criminal hijack of the NNPC by corporate cabals around the current president”.
Atiku stated that, “In October 2022, just five months before the elections, the NNPC Retail controversially announced it had acquired OVH and all its filling stations.
“NNPCL 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 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 GMD 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% 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 PIA.”
Atiku acknowledged that the NNPC and its leadership are under legislative investigation but expressed skepticism about the process’s credibility due to the vested interests of those conducting the investigation.
“Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, who is heading the National Assembly panel, is a known supporter of Tinubu.
“He served as a commissioner under Tinubu in Lagos State and publicly calls him his godfather.
“Given that Tinubu is the Petroleum Minister, he should be held responsible for the sector’s issues.
“I doubt Bamidele will conduct a thorough investigation that might implicate his patron.”
