By Abiola Olawale
Nigerian Business mogul and banking expert Tony Elumelu has recounted how former President Muhammadu Buhari and his deceased chief of Staff, Abba Kyari, allegedly barred him from procuring an oilfield in 2017.
Elumelu, the chairman of United Bank for Africa (UBA), said Buhari and Kyari allegedly declined his request to buy an oilfield despite meeting the requirements.
The business tycoon explained that the situation occurred when one of his companies, Heir Holdings, approached the Buhari administration to acquire an oilfield with an offer of about $2.5 billion around 2017.
Elumelu made this known during an interview with the Financial Times on Friday.
He added that Buhari and Kyari allegedly declined his offer because they could not allow an oilfield of such “strategic importance to fall into the hands of a private operator.”
Elumelu said the rejection “defied logic” given that “he would have been purchasing it from a foreign company.”
Having acquired a 45 per cent stake in an oilfield about three years ago, Elumelu said he was impacted by the activities of criminal gangs who constantly robbed his pipeline and stole enough crude that caused his company to shut down.
With a 45 per cent stake acquired in an oilfield about three years ago, Mr Elumelu voiced his frustration after oil thieves robbed his pipeline and stole enough crude that caused his company to shut down production.
