OVH deal: NNPC hijacked by corporate cabals around Tinubu, says Atiku

Atiku Abubakar, former vice-president, says the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited has been hijacked by “corporate cabals” around President Bola Tinubu.

In a statement on Wednesday, signed by Paul Ibe, Atiku’s media adviser, the politician expressed astonishment at how the NNPC “placed its retail division under the management of OVH, a company in which Oando, headed by Wale Tinubu, owns 49 percent”.

Atiku said his intention to privatise the NNPC and increase its transparency has been overshadowed, describing it as “the criminal hijack of the company by corporate cabals around the president”.

“In October 2022, just five months before the elections, the NNPC retail controversially announced it had acquired OVH and all its filling stations,” Atiku said.

“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.”

Although acknowledged that the NNPC and its leadership are being investigated by the legislature, he expressed doubts about the credibility of the process — citing the vested interests of those conducting the probe.

“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,” he said.

“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.”

‘FUTURE OF NIGERIANS MORTGAGED TO TINUBU’

Atiku said Tinubu’s actions at the federal level are akin to the integration of his business interests into Lagos’s public enterprises.

“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,” Atiku said.

The former vice-president said the future of Nigerians has been “mortgaged to Tinubu, his family, and associates”.

He said even after Tinubu leaves office, breaking the chains will be impossible.

THE NNPC-OVH DEAL

In October 2022, the NNPC had announced that it acquired OVH Energy, owner and operator of the Oando branded retail service stations.

The transaction meant that OVH Energy would be merged with the NNPC Retail Limited (NRL) and it was projected to help improve the supply and consumption of natural gas based on the NNPC’s belief that the deal would add “more than 380 filling stations controlled by OVH in Nigeria and Togo to its portfolio”.

However, the transaction was fraught with several allegations bordering on irregularities and alleged corruption in the acquisition process.

A media report had said OVH only owned 94 stations, with more than 100 stations penned as leased.

Also, the report alleged that the ownership structure of NNPC Limited had become complicated, with Huub Stoksman, an expatriate and former CEO of OVH Energy, taking over as managing director of NNPC Retail.

Although Mele Kyari, the group chief executive officer (GCEO) of NNPC, denied the allegations, the national assembly began a probe on the matter — inviting all parties involved in the transaction.