Femi Otedola's Story Makes More Sense
Femi Otedola
By Deji Taylor
A few years ago, a man walked into Femi Otedola's offices and collected some dollar bills from the wealthy oilman. It was at the height of his media war with his fellow billionaire Aliko Dangote, a former friend who had drawn the ire of Otedola after his half-brother Sayyu Dantata completed an audacious takeover of Chevron Oil Plc, a company Mr Otedola had been eyeing for a long time.
The incident strained relations between the two men who had been the closest of friends and had even acquired a refinery together through their Bluestar Consortium in the twilight days of the Obasanjo administration.
A media war ensued. Otedola made countless allegations in the press accusing Dangote of being responsible for the industrial accident at Dufil Prima, which resulted in the production of poisonous batches of the popular Indomie noodles. He followed it up with claims that Dangote had burnt a Coca-Cola plant and sponsored the candidature of Musiliu Obanikoro in the bitter Lagos state gubernatorial race. At the peak of the media mudslinging, he announced plans to launch Otedola Portland Cement to compete with Mr Dangote's eponymous cement brand.
The man tried to take advantage of the soured relations between the two men and contacted Mr Otedola with a proposal to stop media attacks against him in exchange for a financial consideration. Mr Otedola invited him to his office and after negotiating a tidy sum, handed him an envelope stuffed with crisp dollars. As he thanked the billionaire and made to leave the building, he was arrested by detectives and promptly charged for extortion.
This incident could shed some light on the recent reports alleging that Farouk Lawan, the long-serving Representative from Kano was set up by Femi Otedola after the former gubernatorial candidate demanded a $3 million dollar bribe to keep his companies out of the fuel subsidy report.
Mr Lawan has issued feeble denials but given Mr Otedola's antecedents and that of Nigeria's lawmakers, the oilman's account makes more sense.
Read more:
http://telegraphafrica.com/2012/06/12/femi-otedolas-story-makes-more-sense/
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