Femi Otedola, billionaire
businessman, says he was the one that alerted former president Goodluck
Jonathan to the fuel subsidy scam in 2010, even though he was later blackmailed
by the house of reps committee that probed the fraud.
He was testifying at an FCT high
court on Wednesday as a prosecution witness in the criminal case against Farouk
Lawan, who chaired the house probe committee, by the federal government.
Otedola, who owns Zenon Oil and
Gas Ltd and Forte Oil (formerly called AP), told the court that when he
informed Jonathan that many companies were collecting subsidy payments without
importing any product, the president did not believe him.
He thereafter went on to inform
Senator Bukola Saraki, who raised the issue on the floor of the senate.
Otedola told the court: “Between
January to April 2012, I was resident in Lagos. I knew the defendant (Lawan) as
the chairman of ad-hoc committee investigating the subsidy scam. The committee
was set up by the house of representatives.
“In 2010, being the chairman of
African Petroleum Ltd and also the CEO of Zenon Oil and Gas Ltd, I realised
that companies in Nigeria were claiming money for subsidy on petroleum products
they never imported. When I saw how much was being stolen, I went to the then
President, Dr Goodluck Jonathan. I told him my observations. He told me later
that he had consulted with the Minister of Petroleum and that there was nothing
of such.
“I then reached out to Senator
Bukola Saraki who raised the issue on the floor of the senate and thereafter,
the house of reps set up the panel to investigate the allegation. The defendant
reached out to me and I gave him the background information as to how the
monies were being stolen. I gave relevant information to the ad hoc committee.
I have two companies which are in the oil and gas industry which are AP and
Zenon oil.
“The two companies had something
to do with the defendant’s panel. AP submitted to the committee documents
regarding all the importations of the company. Mr Otaru, general manager AP,
had direct contact with the defendant’s committee.
“On 18th of April, 2012, the
defendant came to see me at my house in Abuja after the report of the committee
had been laid before the house of reps in plenary. He told me that pursuant to
what we discussed on phone while I was in the UK, he told me that he was going
to indict Zenon Oil and Gas Ltd. He demanded for the sum of $3m USD to
exonerate Zenon Oil. I said to him that why will he indict a company that does
not import petrol but diesel. He said most of the companies indicted have paid
bribe. I told him this is extortion.
“I was in Nigeria when the report
was laid before the house of reps. I saw it on the television, NTA on the 18th of April 2012 and I saw that my
company was listed as one of the companies involved in subsidy scam. I wrote a
petition to the DG DSS to complain. When the report was laid, I was shocked and
I had several calls from my international partners and my bankers.”
STING OPERATION
He said it was after his petition
to the DSS that a sting operation was set up against Lawan.
He continued: “After my petition
to the DG DSS, I received a call from the DSS official, one Mr Caleb ,who told
me that they were going to carry out a sting operation. He told me that I would
be provided with serialised USD to give to the defendant and they were going to
install video recording gadgets in my living
and dining rooms. About six operatives of the DSS did the installation.
“I was given 620,000 USD
serialised dollars. After the report was laid on the floor of the House of
Reps, the defendant called me that if I made $3million USD available, he would
exonerate my company. I said to him that this is unfair to a country that has
lost about the sum of N1trn to subsidy scam. I took the instruction of the DSS
and I agreed to play along.
“On Exhibit PW1 B7 page 29, I can
see the name of my company on No. 6; Zenon Oil and Gas Ltd, titled ‘Those who
obtained forex but did not import petroleum product.’ On 23rd April 2012, I was
in my house in Abuja. The defendant came to my house and I handed over to him
the $500,000 USD given to me by the DSS. After handing over the $500,000 USD to
the defendant, I asked him what next, he said would go to the House and discuss
with its leadership. He said I should watch House plenary on the television.
“He claimed that my company
obtained $232m USD from the CBN. I said it is not possible to obtain such money
from the CBN without importing any product. Shortly after, I watched it on the
television where the defendant applied to the House in plenary that the name of
Zenon Oil be removed from the subsidy scam which was then removed.
“The EFCC investigated the
subsidy scam and investigated my companies and found out that we were not
involved in the subsidy scam. The defendant was at my house on 24/4/2012 at
about 12 midnight and 1.00AM.
“In the morning of 24/4/12, my GM
Mr Otaru did mention to me that the PW1 needed to collect money from me as the
secretary of the committee. PW1 came to me and I handed over $120,000 USD to
him.
“After the removal of the name of
Zenon oil from the report, the defendant called me for the balance of $2.5m
USD. I told him its being arranged that it will be loaded into an aircraft to
Abuja. He said I should inform him when the aircraft arrives that he will give
me the name of person who would pick up the money.
“The meeting I had with the
defendant in my house was captured by a video recorded by the DSS. I saw the
video on YouTube and social media.”
THE EFCC PROBE
He said he was later invited by
the police.
“I honoured the invitation. I was
asked to write a statement by the police of what happened, which I did. I did
not put any pressure on the committee. I could not have put pressure on the
committee because Zenon oil was not involved in the theft of subsidy fund.
Eventually, the EFCC investigated the companies involved and prosecuted the
indicted companies,” he said.
“Moreover, the company Zenon oil
does not import PMS and never applied for the petroleum support fund. The
defendant did demand 3million USD and if he did not demand, why would he
collect $500,000 USD from me and still expect $2.5 million USD? My company did
not supply documents to be exonerated. The defendant did mention to me that the
$3million USD is going to be shared by himself and other officials of the
house. I did not offer him 3million USD . My company is one of the biggest
players in the industry. I reported the scam on my part and I could not have
offered him money.”
After the testimonies, Angela
Otaluka, the judge, adjourned the matter till January 28, 2019.
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