NNPC Hands Over All Retail Assets, Petrol Stations To OVH Energy Run By Wale Tinubu

NNPC Retail, the downstream arm of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), has transferred its assets and ownership to OVH Energy Marketing Limited, a company it previously claimed to have acquired.

Wale Tinubu owns Oando and holds a 49 per cent stake in OVH, while OVH owns and operates Oando’s downstream assets.

In a statement released on Wednesday, Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar expressed disbelief at this controversial deal. Atiku, through his media adviser Paul Ibe, accused the Tinubu administration of enabling a cabal to control NNPC. He described the deal as a “criminal hijack” of the state-owned oil company and likened it to Tinubu’s previous business manoeuvres in Lagos. He further called to mind the lack of transparency in the NNPCL’s acquisition of OVH’s 94 filing station in October 2022.

 “In October 2022, just five months before the elections, the NNPC Retail controversially announced it had acquired OVH and all its filling stations. NNPCL already had about 550 filling stations across the country but claimed it was enhancing its capacity by acquiring OVH, which had only 94 stations and 100 others leased. The NNPC did not disclose the purchase price of OVH or the terms of the acquisition.”

Not only was the acquisition shady, but the former Chief Executive Officer of OVH, Huub Stokman, became the managing director of NNPC retail.

In October 2022, NNPC announced that it had bought OVH Energy Marketing from Nueoil Energy Limited. This happened just a month after Nueoil itself had acquired OVH. However, in a joint petition filed on June 24, NNPCL, OVH, and Nueoil requested the Federal High Court in Lagos to issue eight orders. These included the dissolution of NNPC Retail and Nueoil without liquidation. The petition also sought approval to transfer assets to OVH Energy Marketing. Justice Aneke granted all eight orders, finalizing the merger.

Speaking on the ruling, Atiku stated: “In a move that defies economic logic, OVH, previously owned by NNPC retail, has now acquired NNPC retail. This absurd situation means that Wale Tinubu’s Oando now owns 49% of NNPC retail.

“Moreover, Nigeria paid Wale Tinubu a significant sum to facilitate the Tinubu family’s acquisition of the national oil company. This represents a clear case of illogical business transactions and abuse of office by President Tinubu, who has prevented NNPC from becoming a public liability company as stipulated by the PIA.”

The situation calls for further investigation into NNPCL’s operations, although there are doubts about the credibility of such probes.

Read Also: Italian Eni To Sell Its Subsidiary, Agip Oil, To Wale Tinubu’s Oando

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