Nigerian billionaire businessman Femi Otedola has taken legal action, ordering his attorneys to sue Umar Sani, the former spokesperson for former Vice President Namadi Sambo, for ₦1 billion.
“I have directed my attorneys to bring a 1 billion libel suit against Umar Sani due to these wilful falsehoods and baseless accusations,” Otedola stated in a statement.
“People must learn that reputations are not to be toyed with for cheap propaganda and also to serve as a deterrent for other mischief makers in the future. I will go to every extent that this is achieved.”
Otedola, an ally of Aliko Dangote, was accused by Sani of profiting from the petroleum subsidies. He said that Farouk Lawan received marked money from Zenon Petroleum and Gas Ltd. under the pretence of a sting operation.
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Their quarrel stems from Otedola’s involvement in the current conflict between the Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPPMAN) and Dangote Refinery. He had counselled DAPPMAN members to remain flexible.
Otedola has previously asserted that between 2009 and 2015, under the tenure of former President Goodluck Jonathan, around ₦2 trillion was embezzled in dubious fuel subsidy payments.
He also called on the Federal Government to publish the subsidy claims report. Sani, however, accused him of feigning moral authority in the refinery-marketers dispute. Otedola responded by accusing the former aide of libel and attempting to distort history.
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The billionaire businessman said Sani’s claims were an effort to drag his name “into disrepute and allegations of complicity in the subsidy fraud. His insinuations are false, baseless, and a shameless attempt to pander to lies and rewrite history.”
Otedola further challenged
“Sani and others who peddle these half-baked stories” to read his recently launched book Making It Big and “study the facts, and stop disgracing yourselves with ignorance.”
“I have nothing to hide, and I have always acted in the interest of truth and accountability. Those who benefited from subsidy fraud know themselves. I will not sit back and allow falsehood to be written into history,” Otedola said.
