Billionaire Tony Elumelu Shares Story of How Buhari Blocked His Oil Field Acquisition in 2017
- Tony Elumelu has disclosed Buhari and his chief of staff blocked his initial move to acquire an oil field
- Elumelu said he was told that Nigeria could not allow a private entity to control something of such strategic significance
- He stressed that he intended to strengthen Nigeria’s economy by keeping essential assets within the nation
Legit.ng journalist Victor Enengedi has over a decade's experience covering Energy, MSMEs, Technology and the Stock Market.
Tony Elumelu, Chairman of Heirs Holdings, has accused former President Muhammadu Buhari of obstructing his efforts to acquire an oil field.
In an interview with the Financial Times, Elumelu discussed the controversial decision made by the previous administration.
Source: UGC
He claimed that he had been pursuing the purchase of the oil field since 2017 and had secured $2.5 billion for the deal.
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However, Buhari, along with his late chief of staff, Abba Kyari, allegedly blocked the transaction.
Elumelu was reportedly told that Nigeria could not allow a private entity to control something of such strategic significance, a stance he found illogical given that the field was being bought from a foreign company.
He said:
“We would have been purchasing it from a foreign company, so why was it such an issue?”
Tony Elumelu, who also serves as the chairman of United Bank for Africa (UBA), highlighted that his company's proposal went beyond a simple business deal.
His power company, Transcorp Power Limited, has contributed 29,574,447MWh (29TWh) of energy to the national grid in ten years.
He stressed that his intention represented an opportunity to strengthen Nigeria’s economy by keeping important assets within the nation.
He added:
“We wanted to become a Fortune 500 company and we estimated what we needed. It’s not naira, it’s huge dollars. Energy security is crucial for a country that doesn’t produce enough electricity for its roughly 200 million citizens.”
In the same conversation with FT, Elumelu urged the Nigerian government and security agencies to identify and expose those involved in smuggling the nation's crude oil.
Why Nigeria is experiencing poor electricity
In related news, Legit.ng reported that Elumelu called on the federal government to restructure the electricity industry and sell transmission lines to boost the country's flagging economy.
He said Nigeria sends less than a third of the 13,000 megawatts of electricity it generates to the grid, leaving most Nigerians dependent on home generators.
He said the way out is for the government to attract investors to develop the nation's enormous gas reserves to fuel power stations and allow the private sector to manage the transmission lines.
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Source: Legit.ng
