Former vice-president, Atiku Abubakar, has alleged that President Bola Tinubu is gradually turning Nigeria into his private property.
Abubakar, who ran against Tinubu in the 2023 election on the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) platform, said the future of Nigerians had been effectively mortgaged to the President, his family, and associates.
Atiku, who disclosed this on Wednesday, in a statement issued by his media adviser, Paul Ibe, asserted that Tinubu has also integrated his business interests into Nigeria, just the way he integrated Lagos’s public enterprises to his private businesses.
In the message, with the theme, “Nigeria is rapidly transforming into a government of Tinubu, by Tinubu, and for Tinubu, Abubakar”, said even after Tinubu leaves office, it would be nearly impossible to break these restraints.
He drew a parallel between Tinubu’s blending of his business ventures with government entities in Lagos and his attempts to merge his business interests with Federal Government institutions.
“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”, Abubakar stated.
He said he was shocked to discover that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) had placed its retail operations under the management of OVH, a company of which Oando has 49%) stake. Oando is led by Wale Tinubu, the President’s younger brother, highlighting a potential conflict of interest.
Abubakar expressed sadness that the unlawful takeover of the NNPC by corporate cabals around Tinubu had overshadowed his plans to privatise the organisation and bring more transparency to it.
He criticised Tinubu’s handling of NNPC Retail, stating that it defied economic logic for OVH, formerly owned by NNPC Retail, to acquire its former parent company, making Oando to own 49 percent of NNPC Retail.
Tge ex-VP further alleged that Nigeria paid a substantial amount to facilitate the Tinubu family’s acquisition, describing it as an illogical business transaction and an abuse of office by Tinubu, whom he said failed to convert NNPC into a public liability company as required by the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA)
Abubakar recognised that the NNPC and its leadership were under investigation by the legislature, but questioned the integrity of the process.
According to him, Opeyemi Bamidele, a senator, who is heading the National Assembly panel, is a known supporter of Tinubu and served as a commissioner under him in Lagos State and publicly calls him his godfather, and expressed doubts about the likelihood of a thorough investigation by Bamidele, given his close relationship with Tinubu, which may lead to a biased or watered-down inquiry that avoids implicating his master.
The former VP also highlighted the recent disclosure that the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project is embroiled in a legal dispute, as reported by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP). According to him, the investigation revealed that the project’s contract was awarded to Gilbert Chagoury without a competitive bidding process and that Chagoury has close ties to Seyi Tinubu, the President’s son, raising concerns about potential favouritism and corruption.
In an earlier post on his X handle on Monday, Abubakar stated that the latest revelations circulating through media outlets regarding the federal government’s ‘covert‘ continuation of the subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) represented another chapter in the opaque governance under Tinubu’s administration.
This development, according to him, contradicts Tinubu’s firm assertions in a national broadcast, compelled by public protests, where he declared the subsidy regime concluded.
He added that it was important that the Tinubu administration urgently clarify the mysteries surrounding the subsidy policy and the refining of PMS.
