• …business mogul narrates how he alerted Jonathan, Saraki
• …vows to pursue N1bn damages against ex-presidential aide

Nigerian businessman, Femi Otedola, has hit back at allegations linking him to the fuel subsidy scam, describing the claims by Umar Sani, a former aide to Vice President Namadi Sambo, as “malicious lies” and disclosing he has instructed his lawyers to file a N1 billion libel suit.

Recalling his role in exposing the rot in Nigeria’s fuel subsidy regime, Otedola said he was the first to alert President Goodluck Jonathan and Senator Bukola Saraki of the fraud at the time, wondering how he could be accused of benefiting from the same scam he blew the whistle on.

Rejecting Sani’s attempts to link him with the subsidy scandal, Otedola declared that Zenon Petroleum, his company, never traded in petrol and therefore could not have accessed the subsidy fund, stressing that allegations to the contrary amount to ignorance and mischief.

He appealed to President Bola Tinubu to release the full report by the Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede panel carried out under the Goodluck Jonathan administration on the controversial fuel subsidy regime. In a statement on Saturday, Otedola insisted that Nigerians deserve to know the truth about those who looted public funds under the Petroleum Subsidy Fund (PFA) scheme which lasted several years.

“I implore President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to release the full Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede report on subsidy fraud as Nigerians deserve to know the truth. It is on record that the Presidency at the time called on the late Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Chairman, Ibrahim Lamorde, to halt the investigation.

Let the report be made public so the real subsidy thieves can be unmasked,” Otedola stated. The renowned philanthropist was reacting to an allegation by Sani, a former presidential aide, who said that at the peak of the subsidy regime, Otedola, through his company, Zenon Petroleum and Gas Ltd, benefitted from the scam he’s now criticising.

Sani stated he had empirical evidence showing that Otedola controlled as much as 90 per cent of diesel imports and up to 40 per cent of other products at the time. “The same system he now condemns was one in which he was deeply entrenched and from which he personally benefited immensely.”