Otedola has sued Umar Sani for ₦1bn and denied subsidy fraud allegations.
NewsOnline Nigeria reports that billionaire businessman, Femi Otedola, has filed a ₦1 billion libel suit against Umar Sani, a former media aide to ex-Vice President Namadi Sambo, over allegations linking him to Nigeria’s fuel subsidy fraud.
In a statement on Sunday, Otedola dismissed the claims as “false, baseless, and malicious,” accusing Sani of attempting to rewrite history and drag his name into disrepute.
He clarified that his company, Zenon Petroleum and Gas Limited, was a leading diesel importer with over 90% market share, but never traded in Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) — the only product eligible under the Petroleum Subsidy Fund (PSF). “Diesel was deregulated long before the subsidy regime. It was impossible for Zenon to have made subsidy claims,” Otedola said.
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The businessman insisted he was the whistleblower who first exposed subsidy fraud while serving on President Goodluck Jonathan’s Economic Team. He recalled alerting both the President and then-Senator Bukola Saraki, which eventually led to a National Assembly probe.
Addressing the Farouk Lawan bribery scandal, Otedola explained that he worked with the Department of State Services (DSS) in a sting operation that later saw Lawan convicted and jailed for five years. “To twist that documented operation against me is laughable,” he stated.
Otedola further urged President Bola Tinubu to release the full Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede report on subsidy fraud to expose the “real culprits,” while also dismissing Sani’s claims about his dealings with AMCON as deliberate misinformation.
He confirmed instructing his lawyers to proceed with the libel action, stressing: “Reputations are not to be toyed with for cheap propaganda. I will not allow falsehood to be written into history.”
