Otedola Denies Fuel Subsidy Allegations, Insists Zenon Only Traded Diesel, Not Subsidised Products, Files ₦1bn Libel Suit Against Umar Sani
Billionaire businessman, Femi Otedola, has firmly rejected fresh allegations linking him to Nigeria’s fuel subsidy scandal, describing the claims as false, malicious, and a deliberate attempt to tarnish his reputation.
The allegations were made by Umar Sani, a former media aide to ex‑Vice President Namadi Sambo, who accused Otedola of complicity in the Petroleum Subsidy Fund (PSF) scheme.
In a strongly worded statement, Otedola clarified that his company, Zenon Petroleum and Gas Limited, only traded in diesel, a deregulated product outside the subsidy regime, and therefore could not have made any subsidy claims.
He further stressed that he was, in fact, the whistleblower who first exposed the monumental fraud in the subsidy scheme under President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, and has now instructed his lawyers to file a ₦1 billion libel suit against Sani.
Otedola explained that Zenon Petroleum commanded over 90% of the diesel market at the time but never traded in Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), the only product eligible for subsidy claims under the PSF.
He noted that diesel had long been deregulated before the adoption of the PSF, making it impossible for his company to have benefitted from subsidy payments.
Expressing dismay, Otedola described Sani’s allegations as either a mischievous attempt to mislead the public or a gross display of ignorance about basic industry facts.
He recalled that as a member of President Jonathan’s Economic Team, he was the one who first alerted the President to the fraud in the PSF scheme. When the then Minister of Petroleum denied the allegations, he escalated the matter to Senator Bukola Saraki, who subsequently raised it on the floor of the Senate, leading to a House of Representatives investigation.
According to Otedola, if he had been complicit in subsidy fraud, it would have been illogical for him to blow the whistle on himself. He argued that this fact alone should cast doubt on the credibility of Sani’s claims.
He recounted how, after it became public knowledge that he was the whistleblower, some perpetrators of the fraud fought back by manipulating the House Committee on the subsidy probe, chaired by Hon. Farouk Lawan, in an attempt to indict him.
Otedola explained that when the harassment and blackmail became incessant, he petitioned the authorities and collaborated with the Department of State Security (DSS) in a sting operation. The DSS provided marked money, which he handed over to Lawan under surveillance.
He emphasised that this operation is a matter of record, and Lawan was later convicted and sentenced to five years’ imprisonment for bribery. To twist those facts into an indictment against him, Otedola said, only exposes Sani’s ignorance.
Otedola urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to release the full Aigboje Aig‑Imoukhuede report on subsidy fraud, insisting that Nigerians deserve to know the truth and that the real subsidy thieves should be unmasked.
Addressing further insinuations about his dealings with the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), Otedola explained that following the 2008 global financial crisis, he suffered significant losses and his loans were sold to AMCON. He surrendered assets worth hundreds of billions of naira under a court‑ordered settlement, a process AMCON publicly commended.
Concluding, Otedola stated that he has nothing to hide and has always acted in the interest of truth and accountability. He vowed not to allow falsehood to be written into history and confirmed that his ₦1 billion libel suit against Sani is intended both to protect his reputation and to deter future acts of malicious defamation.
