Femi Otedola is not here for the nonsense. The Nigerian billionaire came out swinging over the weekend, slamming Umar Sani, a former media aide to ex-Vice President Namadi Sambo, for trying to tie him to the fuel subsidy mess from the Goodluck Jonathan era. Calling the claims “malicious lies,” Otedola’s already got his lawyers prepping a N1 billion libel suit to shut Sani up.
This whole drama started when Sani took shots at Otedola, saying his company, Zenon Petroleum, was knee-deep in the subsidy scam, allegedly controlling 90% of diesel imports and 40% of other products while cashing in big. Sani basically painted Otedola as a hypocrite for now criticizing the same system he supposedly milked.
Otedola wasn’t having it. “Zenon only dealt in diesel, which wasn’t even subsidized back then,” he clapped back, calling Sani’s accusations either clueless or straight-up shady. He says his company never touched petrol, so subsidy funds? Not a chance. And here’s the kicker: Otedola claims he’s the one who blew the whistle on the subsidy fraud in the first place, tipping off Jonathan himself. When the then-Petroleum Minister Diezani Alison-Madueke brushed it off, he went to Senator Bukola Saraki, sparking the Senate probe that exposed the N2 trillion rip-off.
Things got wilder when the subsidy crooks tried to flip the script. Otedola says they used Farouk Lawan’s House committee to come after him, but he outsmarted them with a DSS sting op, handing over marked cash that led to Lawan’s bribery conviction and five-year jail term. “If I was dirty, would I snitch on myself?” Otedola asked, throwing Sani’s logic out the window.
And those whispers about his AMCON debts from the 2008 crash? Otedola owned it. He settled up by handing over assets worth billions in a court deal, earning props from AMCON as a model debtor. It’s all laid out in his new book, Making It Big, which he’s telling Sani to read before spouting more nonsense.
Now, Otedola’s calling on President Bola Tinubu to drop the full Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede report from the Jonathan days to name and shame the real subsidy thieves. He’s also throwing shade at the old administration for allegedly stalling EFCC probes. “I won’t let lies rewrite history,” he said, making it clear this lawsuit is his way of drawing a line in the sand.
Sani, not backing down, dared Otedola to bring the suit on Monday, swearing he’s got receipts to prove Zenon’s subsidy gains. Looks like this fight’s headed for the courtroom, and it’s gonna be a showdown. Keep your eyes peeled—this one’s got legs.
