LAGOS – Billionaire businessman Femi Otedola has reignited the debate on Nigeria’s fuel subsidy regime, alleging that corruption remains rampant in the system.
In a recent statement, Otedola accused members of the Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPPMAN), which he claims to have founded, of perpetuating a corrupt business model built on subsidy fraud and obsolete infrastructure.
Otedola’s most striking claim was that “over N2 trillion was siphoned through questionable subsidy claims under the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan.”
This allegation has sparked controversy, with many questioning the timing and motivations behind Otedola’s statement.
In a statement signed by Umar Sani, former Special Adviser (Media) to former Vice President Namadi Sambo, he said it is not clear if the businessman threw in this gratuitous denunciation to score cheap political points and get ahead of others in the nation’s extant patronage politics or merely leveraged the very convenient corruption chant for mass appeal. “What is however obvious, is the undisguised intent by the successful businessman to single out one administration for public censure.
“While no one should defend or justify corruption in any form or era, it is important to respond to Otedola’s accusations with factual clarity and historical accuracy, which he chose to ignore. His statements are not only hypocritical but reek of selective memory and a convenient rewriting of history.
“Howbeit, the petrol subsidy regime in Nigeria predates President Jonathan’s administration and continued long after it. Nigeria’s subsidy regime has indeed lasted for about five decades. In fact, it was sustained in the 4th Republic, during President Obasanjo’s tenure, continued through President Yar’Adua’s administration and remained in place all through President Jonathan’s time.
Later, under President Buhari, it intensely persisted despite public claims to the contrary, with even higher levels of opacity and unaccounted subsidy spending.
It is therefore misleading, even mischievous, for Otedola to lay the blame solely at the feet of the Jonathan administration when the issue spans several administrations, including the one under which Otedola himself enjoyed enormous business privileges.
“It would be recalled that at the peak of the subsidy regime, Otedola, through his company Zenon Petroleum and Gas Ltd, was one of the biggest importers of diesel and other petroleum products in Nigeria. There is empirical evidence showing that he controlled as much as 90% of diesel imports and up to 40% 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.
There is no doubt that the industry was fraught with round-tripping and inflated subsidy claims during the subsidy regime.
It was precisely due to such rampant allegations that the Jonathan administration instituted the Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede-led forensic audit panel to probe the subsidy regime, a courageous step aimed at unmasking those exploiting the system, including several politically connected operators. Setting up of the Imoukhuede committee to conduct a forensic investigation into the subsidy scheme was part of the crucial reforms Jonathan initiated to sanitise the sector.
Rather than sit idly while corruption festered, President Jonathan made the bold move towards privatisation and deregulation of petroleum products, which was unfortunately sabotaged by a coalition of vested interests, including politicians, opportunistic civil society groups, and indeed operators within the industry who directly benefited from the status quo.
“Let it be recalled that the Occupy Nigeria protests of 2012, which were used to frustrate deregulation, were in part funded and influenced by those who had the most to lose if subsidy fraud was dismantled. It is disingenuous for Otedola to now turn around and feign moral superiority.
“His company, Zenon, was among those indicted or spotlighted during the investigative work of both the Imoukhuede panel and the House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee on Subsidy Payments led then by Honourable Farouk Lawan.
“The nation would recall with great concern the scandal involving Otedola and Lawan, a sordid episode in which Otedola admitted to giving marked money to Lawan, in what he later claimed was a sting operation. Whether this was a genuine attempt to expose corruption or a clever way to sidestep indictment remains a matter of public debate.
Given his proximity to power and central role in the subsidy ecosystem, Otedola likely knows far more about the inner workings of the subsidy scam than he is willing to disclose. His recent comments, while seemingly critical of corruption, appear to be a calculated attempt at image-laundering, projecting himself as a reformer rather than the enabler and direct beneficiary of the warped subsidy system that records show he was.
Rather than giving a full and honest account of his own involvement and that of his contemporaries, Otedola is engaging in selective exposure, pointing fingers at others while shielding his own complicity.
If anything, what Otedola has offered is an inadvertent confession, a glimpse into the dark underbelly of a corrupt subsidy regime in which his company and others as key players.
Any genuine effort to expose corruption in Nigeria’s petroleum sector is welcome. However, such efforts must be grounded in honesty, full disclosure, and historical accuracy. Femi Otedola’s attempt to rewrite the past and cast himself as a whistleblower or reformist rings hollow when weighed against the facts of his own extensive involvement.
The Nigerian public deserves the whole truth, not curated narratives or veiled confessions masquerading as patriotic intervention.
If Otedola truly wants to help the country, he should come clean about his role, name the culprits, and support a full independent inquiry into the subsidy regime, not just under Jonathan, but across all administrations, including those he did business under. Now that Otedola is speaking, he should as well tell Nigerians his story with the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON).
Until then, his accusations amount to nothing more than a pot calling the kettle black.”
