By Ebere Inyama
( Lagos) President Bola Tinibu’s favored nephew, Wale Tinubu, has been scrambling for weeks to refute a claim that he has cheated Nigerian consumers and denied the Dangote Refinery of feeder stock crude by taking Nigerian crude to Malta and refining it in a facility he owns.
According to this new claim by a social media influencer named Dan Bello,
Wale Tinubu produced huge cargoes of crude oil in Nigeria, sold it to himself, then shipped it to Malta for refining. For a year, Tinubu has sold the refined gasoline back to Nigeria at a huge markup, according to Bello and other analysts.
Representatives for Oando, Tinubu’s company, flatly deny the allegations.
In an official statement, Oando denied that the company or its executives hold shares, investments, or interests in the Maltese oil company.
Collaborating Bello’s claims, an anonymous critic has in a viral video, accused President Tinibu of economic sabotage. According to the critic, Mr. Tinibu sells Nigeria’s crude oil to himself, refines the oil and sells petroleum products to Nigerians.
“Using his company in Malta, President Tinibu buys Nigeria’s oil at a very low price”, the anonymous critic says in the video.
“With his newly acquired Agip Oil Company, Tinibu, explores, extracts and exports oil across the Niger Delta states of from Ondo to Cross River state
“Once in Malta, Tinibu refines the oil and sells it back to Nigeria. But now, as an oil marketer through OVH energy also known as Oando, he buys it back at an exorbitant price for sale to the Nigerian people. Despite the official removal of fuel subsidy, it is still being paid secretly, as Tinibu is in essence, paying himself subsidy,” according to the video.
“Just last year, President Tinibu sold over $2 billion worth of petroleum products to Nigeria through his refinery in Malta,” he continued.
“This is not just corruption. It is a high level of financial exploitation. Even after Tinibu leaves office, his influence will remain. Nigeria will continue without a functioning refinery and his oil monopoly will stand strong, while the government will continue to pay him for subsidies,” says the voice over.
“Tinibu will fight the Dangote refinery with everything he has because if it becomes operational, his multi-trillion-naira oil monopoly enterprise will collapse,” the voice says.
Nigerian Government Accused Of Sabotage Against Dangote Refinery
The Nigerian press has not reached consensus on whether the far-reaching claim of blogger Bello is valid or another Nigerian Shaggy Dog story.
“Malta Allegation: Clear The Air, Mr. President” shouted a headline from the Katsina Times.
“Tell the nation the truth, Mr. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. You owe that to your country and compatriots. An editorial in one foreign magazine called your alleged involvement in the oil sector as shady,” wrote one Times staffer.
Factcheck Africa, on the other hand, concluded that the claims against the Tinubu family were unfounded. “Adewale Tinubu Jr.’s involvement is not documented, and there is no verified ownership of Agip Nigeria by the Tinubu family,” according to Fact-check Africa.
The fact remains that Nigerian production companies have refused to sell crude to Dangote without giving plausible reasons why they shouldn’t. In a statement on Friday August 9, 2024, Dangote noted that the primary challenge confronting Dangote refinery is NUPRC’s reluctance to ensure that the refinery receives adequate supply of crude oil by IOCs in Nigeria.
According to him, when Dangote Refinery approached the IOCs for crude supply, they either redirected the company to a third party or responded that their cargoes were committed.
These obstacles faced by Dangote refinery is coming as a surprise to many Nigerians considering the fact that Dangote has been an ally of President Bola Tinibu. He was reported to have helped Tinibu to win the 2023 presidential election in Nigeria.
Earlier in July, 2024, Farouk Ahmed, the chief executive officer of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) had accused Dangote refinery of producing high-sulphur diesel and inferior petroleum products. This prompted the House of Representatives Joint Committee on Petroleum Resources to launch a probe by setting up two committees to carry out a legislative forensic investigation into the allegation.
NNPC Officials React
Earlier in July 2024, the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, Mr. Mele Kyari had reacted to Mr. Dangote’s allegations via X.
“I am inundated by enquiries from family members, friends and associates on the public declaration by the President of Dangote Group that some NNPC workers have established a blending plant in Malta thereby impeding procurements from local production of Petroleum products.
“To clarify the allegations regarding blending plant, I do not own or operate any business directly or by proxy anywhere in the world with the exception of a local mini Agric venture. Neither am I aware of any employee of the NNPC, that owns or operates a blending plant in Malta or anywhere else in the world, ” he said.
These denials by NNPC officials and Oando may not come as a surprise to Nigerians, because it would not be easy for the officials to indict their boss. Tinibu serves as the President of Nigeria and acting minister of Petroleum and his influence over his appointees cannot be over emphasized.
To apply a phrase familiar to those working complex issues within factious bureaucracies where self-dealing by national decision makers is an issue, one insider told TruthNigeria: “The problem needs more study.”
Ebere Inyama is an Imo – state based conflict reporter for TruthNigeria
