Tinubu turning Nigeria into private enterprise- Atiku

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, on Thursday, accused President Bola Tinubu of turning Nigeria into a private enterprise, noting that the “future of Nigerians has been effectively mortgaged to President Bola Tinubu, his family, and associates.”

This is as the former vice president expressed fears that it will be nearly impossible to break the shackles of Tinubu from Nigeria, even after the president leaves office.

Atiku Abubakar, in a statement by Paul Ibe, his media adviser, asserted that Tinubu has also integrated his business interests into Nigeria, just the way he integrated Lagos’s public enterprises to his private businesses.

According to him, “ 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,”

The Peoples Democratic Party PDP presidential candidate in the 2023 election cited 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 percent.

Atiku regretted that his intention to privatise the NNPC and increase its transparency has been overshadowed by what he describes as the criminal hijack of the company by corporate cabals around the current president.

“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 also expressed skepticism that the ongoing investigation into the Federal Government-owned NNPCL will produce the desired results, even as he doubts the process’ credibility due to the vested interests of those conducting the investigation.

According to him, “Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, who is heading the National Assembly panel, is a known supporter of Tinubu.”

He disclosed that the senator had served as a commissioner under Tinubu in Lagos State and publicly calls him his godfather, stressing that “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,” Atiku said.

Atiku, while also commenting on the recent revelation that the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project is under litigation, recalled that the “Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), a global network of investigative journalists, reported that the coastal highway project has been taken to court and revealed a close relationship between Tinubu’s son, Seyi, and Gilbert Chagoury, who was awarded the contract without competitive bidding.

“I had earlier claimed that the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project was fraudulent, but the government denied it. Now, the matter is in court. It is also concerning that Chagoury and Tinubu have a business relationship, and their children are business partners, as revealed by the OCCRP.

“This indicates a conflict of interest. It is no surprise that the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway and the Sokoto-Badagry Coastal Highway, which together will cost over $24 billion, were approved without competitive bidding. It seems that whatever Tinubu wants, he gets.”