Atiku expressed fear in a statement signed by his media adviser, Paul Ibe, that it would be difficult for him to escape the accusations made against President Tinubu, even after he left office.
“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,” said Atiku, drawing a comparison between Tinubu’s involvement in public enterprises in Lagos and his actions at the federal level.
Atiku attacked the management of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, pointing out that the state-run oil giant had given OVH, a business partially owned by Oando and headed by Wale Tinubu, a relative of the president.
He said: “The NNPC Retail controversially declared in October 2022, only five months before the elections, that it had bought OVH and all of its filling stations. NNPCL stated that by purchasing OVH, which only owned 94 filling stations and another 100 that were leased, it would be increasing its capacity, even though it already had over 550 filling stations nationwide.
Atiku went on to criticise the agreement further, pointing out that the conditions of the acquisition and the purchase price of OVH were not disclosed by the NNPC. He mentioned that the NNPC, which is government owned yet purported to be a private firm, denied Premium Times’ request for information under the Freedom of Information Act.
“A clear case of illogical business transactions and abuse of office by President Tinubu,” Atiku said of the circumstances.
As mandated by the Petroleum Industry Act, Atiku accused Tinubu of obstructing the NNPC from becoming a public liability business.
Additionally, he raised scepticism regarding the legitimacy of the parliamentary probe of the NNPC and its leadership, saying that Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, the head of the National Assembly panel, had a history of backing Tinubu. In Lagos State, he worked as a commissioner under Tinubu and referred to him as his godfather in public.
As Tinubu is the Minister of Petroleum, Atiku continued, he ought to be held accountable for the problems in the industry. Regarding the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project, Atiku clarified that legal action is currently being taken against the project. He said Gilbert Chagoury, who won the contract without going to bid, had a close relationship with Tinubu’s son, Seyi, according to the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project.
The approval of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway and the Sokoto-Badagry Coastal Highway, which together are expected to cost over $24 billion, without competitive bidding, according to Atiku, is not surprising. Whatever Tinubu desires, it appears, he gets.
Atiku underlined that Tinubu’s policies are jeopardising Nigerians’ future and that it will be difficult to escape them even after he leaves office.