Billionaire businessman Femi Otedola has strongly refuted fresh allegations linking him to Nigeria’s fuel subsidy scandal, describing the claims as “false, baseless, and malicious.”
The allegations were made by Umar Sani, a former media aide to ex-Vice President Namadi Sambo, who accused Otedola of complicity in the Petroleum Subsidy Fund (PSF) scheme.
In a detailed statement, Otedola stressed that his company, Zenon Petroleum and Gas Limited, only dealt in diesel — a deregulated product outside the subsidy framework — and therefore could never have made subsidy claims.
“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 a subsidy under the Petroleum Subsidy Fund scheme,” he said.
Otedola further recalled that he was the whistleblower who first exposed the subsidy fraud during President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration. He narrated how he personally alerted Jonathan and Senator Bukola Saraki, which eventually led to investigations by the National Assembly.
He also referenced the sting operation conducted with the Department of State Services (DSS), which exposed then-House Committee chairman Hon. Farouk Lawan in an extortion scandal. Lawan was later convicted and sentenced to five years in prison.
“If I were complicit in subsidy theft, would I be the one to raise the alarm and blow the whistle on myself? That alone should question the motive of Umar Sani,” Otedola argued.
Regarding his past dealings with the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), Otedola explained that his loan obligations, resulting from the 2008 global economic crisis, were fully settled by handing over assets worth hundreds of billions of naira. He noted that AMCON publicly commended his approach at the time.
Calling Sani’s allegations a calculated smear campaign, the billionaire confirmed he has instructed his lawyers to file a ₦1 billion libel suit.
“Reputations are not to be toyed with for cheap propaganda. I have nothing to hide and I will go to every extent to achieve justice,” he added.
Otedola also urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to release the full Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede report on subsidy fraud, insisting that Nigerians deserve to know the truth and that the real perpetrators must be unmasked.
