Business mogul and Chairman of Geregu Power Plc, Femi Otedola, has strongly denied fresh allegations linking him to Nigeria’s controversial fuel subsidy scandal, describing the claims as “false, baseless, and mischievous attempts at rewriting history.”
In a statement posted on his official X handle on Monday, Otedola reacted to an article credited to Umar Sani, former Special Adviser (Media) to ex-Vice President Namadi Sambo, which accused him of complicity in the subsidy fraud.
Otedola clarified that his company, Zenon Petroleum and Gas Limited, dealt exclusively in the importation and trading of diesel, a deregulated product that was never covered under the Petroleum Subsidy Fund (PSF).
“Zenon Petroleum never traded in Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) and as such could not have claimed a subsidy under the Petroleum Subsidy Fund scheme,” he wrote, accusing Sani of “displaying ignorance of basic industry facts.”
The billionaire warned that he would not hesitate to initiate legal proceedings against those seeking to tarnish his name.
Otedola further stressed that far from being complicit, he was one of the whistleblowers who first alerted then-President Goodluck Jonathan to the “monumental fraud” in the PSF, which eventually triggered parliamentary probes into irregular claims.
“If I was complicit in subsidy theft, would I be the one to raise the alarm and blow the whistle on myself?” he asked, noting that Nigeria’s former Senate President, Bukola Saraki, and other officials could corroborate his testimony.
Addressing the infamous 2012 Farouk Lawan bribery saga, Otedola insisted the incident was a DSS-led sting operation and that the money given to the lawmaker was part of a monitored intelligence exercise. Lawan’s subsequent conviction for bribery, he said, had vindicated him.
Going further, Otedola challenged President Bola Tinubu to unseal the suppressed Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede report on subsidy fraud, which he said would expose the true beneficiaries of the multi-billion-dollar racket.
“Nigerians deserve to know the truth. Let the real subsidy thieves be unmasked,” he wrote.
Otedola’s fiery rebuttal comes at a time when the current administration has ended fuel subsidies as part of economic reforms, and his comments are expected to reignite debate on one of the most controversial chapters in Nigeria’s oil sector.
