Otedola to Tinubu: Release Subsidy Report, Expose Real Thieves

Nigerian business magnate, Femi Otedola, has urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to make public the full findings of the Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede panel on petroleum subsidy fraud, insisting that the nation deserves to know the real culprits behind the multi-trillion-naira racket.
Otedola’s call comes as he moves to sue Umar Sani, former spokesman to ex-Vice President Namadi Sambo, for ₦1 billion over what he described as “baseless and mischievous” claims linking him to subsidy fraud.
“Zenon Petroleum and Gas Limited only imported diesel, a deregulated product not covered by subsidy claims. We never traded in petrol and therefore could not have benefitted from the Petroleum Subsidy Fund. Any suggestion otherwise is false and ignorant,” Otedola said in a statement.
Far from being a beneficiary, Otedola reminded Nigerians that he was one of the earliest voices to raise alarm over the scam during the Jonathan administration.
According to him, after alerting then-President Jonathan and meeting resistance from the Petroleum Ministry, he took the matter to Senator Bukola Saraki, sparking the legislative probe that eventually exposed widespread fraud.
“If I was complicit, why would I blow the whistle on myself? Those who know the history of the subsidy probe can confirm the truth,” he maintained.
The billionaire recounted how corruption “fought back” through the House Committee on the subsidy probe, chaired by Farouk Lawan, who later attempted to indict him.
Otedola explained that he cooperated with the DSS in a sting operation that caught Lawan red-handed. “The marked money was handed over under surveillance, and Lawan was later convicted. Twisting this fact to malign me only exposes ignorance,” he stated.
On suggestions that his name was tied to AMCON debts, Otedola said the matter was long resolved in line with the law, after the 2008 global financial crisis. He stressed that he forfeited assets worth hundreds of billions of naira to settle obligations, with AMCON itself commending his approach as a model for debt resolution.
Otedola insisted that making the Aig-Imoukhuede panel’s report public would finally end the guessing game around subsidy fraud and expose those who truly bled Nigeria’s economy.
“Nigerians deserve the truth. Let the real subsidy thieves be unmasked. I have nothing to hide, and I will not sit by while falsehood is written into history,” he said.