Politics
Atiku Queries FG’s Accelerated Approval Of Oando, AGIP/ENI Deal
. . . Slams Tinubu Over Subsidy Scam, Rights Abuse
. . . Demands Release Of Detained Whistleblower, Bristol Tamunobiefiri
Former Vice President of Nigeria, Atiku Abubakar has demanded for explanations from the Federal Government on the accelerated approval for Oando to buy the onshore assets of AGIP and ENI while other transactions like the Shell/Renaissance deal and the Mobil/Seplat remained in the cooler.
Biztellers reports that the Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in Nigeria’s 2023 election alleged that the Oando Plc owned by the Tinubu family.
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This was contained in a statement in Abuja, on Sunday by the Special Assistant on Public Communication to Atiku Abubakar, Phrank Shaibu.
According to Shaibu, his principal also slammed the Bola Tinubu administration for implementing a sham subsidy regime as revealed in the financial statement recently released by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd).
Atiku lamented, “Tinubu visited the FMDQ in New York, visited Qatar, visited France where he told lies about removing petrol subsidies. Obviously, this is not a man who is serious about attracting FDI.
“More worrisome is that he is not even brave enough to admit that subsidy is being paid. The NNPCL admits that N7.8tn is owed to the national oil company by the Nigerian government.
“IMF estimates that subsidy payments this year will constitute 3% of GDP, which is about $7.5bn. This will be about N11.8tn. Yet, the petrol scarcity continues to linger while the Tinubu administration continues to frustrate the Dangote Refinery and even its own NNPCL facilities.
“Obviously, the subsidy regime has become an even wider conduit pipe through which monies for funding the 2027 election will come.”
Atiku, Shaibu wrote, doubled down on his allegation that Oando was being given undue and preferential treatment in the oil and gas sector to the detriment of more competent investors.
Specifically, Atiku knocked the House of Representatives for failing to take proper action on the NNPC Ltd which has now gone ahead to “mortgage the country’s national oil assets to vested interests”.
Atiku said, “Within just eight months, the Nigerian Upstream Production Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) approved a deal which saw the divestment of ENI/AGIP onshore assets to Oando. Within that same period, Nigeria controversially withdrew all litigation against Shell/ENI in the OPL 245 scandal in what has been described as a quid pro quo.
“However, the attempt by SEPLAT to buy Mobil’s onshore assets has continued to stall for the last three years even as the consent letter remains on Tinubu’s table. The deal between Renaissance and Shell continues to stall.
“In fact, the only deal that has fully scaled through so far is the one involving Oando. We now know why it got accelerated approval.
“Ideally, democracy ought to be government of the people, for the people, and by the people. But democracy in Nigeria has become the government of Tinubu, by Tinubu, and for Tinubu and his family members.”
Atiku added, “In July 2023, the House of Representatives, following the adoption of a motion moved by Miriam Onuoha directed NNPC Ltd to suspend the acquisition of OVH assets pending an investigation by its committee.
“The House ad-hoc committee requested the NNPC Ltd to furnish it with information about registration documents/history from CAC for OVH, Nueoil, and NNPC Retail Limited (NRL), Board Resolution of NNPC Ltd on purchase of OVH, Audited Financial Statement and Management Accounts from 2015 to date of OVH, Nueoil, NRL and NNPC Ltd and the payroll from 2015 to date for NRL and OVH; Board Resolution of NRL/CHQ for movement of head office to Lagos and evidence of Tax Payments for NRL and OVH from 2015 to date.
“The NNPC ignored all these and went ahead to transfer its ownership and properties in its retail arm to OVH, thereby mortgaging the future of Nigerians.
“Despite the rot in the oil sector, the head of the NNPC, the head of the NUPRC, and the head of the NMDPRA continue to keep their jobs. This is clear evidence that they are fulfilling the mandate given to them by Tinubu.”
Furthermore, Atiku pointed out that the NNPC lied in its vacuous response to their statement last week, as it is on record that the Kyari-led management appointed Huub Stoksman, a former Chief Executive Officer of OVH Energy, as Managing Director of NNPC Retail, and Mumuni Dangazau, the former Chief Operating Officer of OVH Energy, as his Special Adviser Downstream, long before the consummation of the incestuous marriage of the entitities.
In a related development, Atiku also lambasted the Tinubu administration for the rise in human rights abuses.
According to the Waziri Adamawa, Tinubu who rode to power over exaggerated claims of being a freedom fighter, had turned against the people by allowing the Department of State Services (DSS), police and even the military to abuse the rights of citizens without any consequences.
He noted that in some instances, citizens were arrested in a gestapo manner without the knowledge of their relatives who go about looking for them for several weeks.
The former Vice President said the most affected since Tinubu took office have been journalists whose only crime is reporting the news and exposing government indiscretion.
He argued that the Cyber Crime Prevention Act 2015 had become a tool with which officials in the Tinubu administration were abducting citizens while the Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrime Centre (NPF-NCCC) had transmuted into the defunct SARS.
The dangerous trend of enforced disappearances has become a national embarrassment for a country which claims to be practising democracy. On May 1, 2024, Daniel Ojukwu of the Foundation for Investigative Journalism went missing and was presumed abducted by kidnappers until he was later discovered to be in police custody on the orders of IGP Kayode Egbetokun.
“Ojukwu’s crime was that he exposed the corruption of a government official who currently serves in Tinubu’s administration. On July 23, the DSS arrested one Aliyu Sanusi in Sama Road of Sokoto, the state capital for printing and distributing materials ahead of the #EndBadGovernanceProtest. Even the arrest and release of the former BBC Pidgin Editor and current West Africa Regional Editor of the Conversation, Adejuwon Soyinka, clearly shows a pattern, which objective is to intimidate journalists for speaking truth to this government.
“Now, the police have arrested Bristol Tamunobiefiri, who owns the PIDOM Nigeria blog on X, formerly Twitter. After detaining him for over two weeks, he was granted an administrative bail, which will be impossible to meet. This is despite the fact that the Appeal Court, in the case of EFCC V. Emem Uboh (2022) LPEIR – 57968 (CA) held that administrative bail is illegal. Bristol should, therefore, be arraigned in court immediately or released,” Atiku added.
Atiku advised Tinubu to take cases of human rights abuses seriously or Nigeria would remain at the risk of being slammed with sanctions which would prevent western powers from selling weapons, a development he argues could undermine Nigeria’s ability to tackle insecurity.
“Amnesty International still has a pending petition before the Foreign Committee of the US Congress against the sale of weapons to Nigeria due to human rights concerns in line with the Leahy Law. Tinubu would do well to curb these cases of rights abuses by law enforcement authorities who all report to him as commander-in-chief,” the former Vice President said.
Vice President Kashim Shettima is expected to lead the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential campaign rally in Abakaliki, the Ebonyi State capital, on Monday, November 9, 2026.
Stanley Nkwocha disclosed this in a statement released on Monday, announcing the Vice President’s visit to Ebonyi State for the campaign rally.
The rally is scheduled to take place at the Pa Ngele Oruta Township Stadium, Abakaliki, as part of the APC’s campaign activities under the Renewed Hope agenda.
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The announcement called on residents and party supporters to turn out in large numbers to welcome the Vice President, describing the event as an opportunity for massive political mobilisation.
“One city. Thousands of voices. An atmosphere of incredible energy,” the statement said.
The Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) has warned the judiciary against allowing itself to be used to undermine democracy following the Federal High Court judgment nullifying the David Mark-led leadership of the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
The party expressed concern that the judgment, alongside other recent court decisions involving opposition parties, could weaken Nigeria’s multi-party democracy and restrict political participation ahead of the 2027 general elections.
SEE ALSO: APC Pressuring Hotels to Deny Opposition Parties Venues – NDC Raises Alarm
In a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Osa Director, Esq. On Friday, the NDC said the manner in which some judgments, particularly those emanating from High Courts, were being delivered raised concerns about a possible attempt to exclude the ADC from the forthcoming elections.
While acknowledging the judiciary as the last hope of the common man, the party warned that court decisions capable of weakening opposition parties could create the impression that the judicial system was being used to frustrate democratic competition.
“The way some of these judgements are being churned out, especially from the High Courts suggests a deliberate effort to shut out the ADC from the forthcoming general elections by other means,” the statement read.
The NDC further argued that such developments could shrink the space for multi-party democracy, which it said was already facing significant threats under the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The party consequently urged the judiciary to safeguard its independence, impartiality and integrity, stressing the need to protect public confidence in the institution.
It also called on the ADC to appeal the judgment without delay, urging the appellate court to grant an accelerated hearing to ensure the leadership dispute does not linger ahead of the 2027 elections.
According to the NDC, resolving the matter promptly would prevent uncertainty from undermining democratic participation and the ability of political parties to prepare for the forthcoming polls.
The party concluded its statement with the declaration: “A New Nigeria is Possible!”
The Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) has accused the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) of allegedly pressuring hotels in Abuja to deny the opposition party access to their facilities, describing the development as an attempt to undermine democratic participation ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The party raised the allegation in a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Osa Director on Thursday, who expressed concern over what it described as increasing attempts to restrict the democratic space and silence opposition voices.
According to the NDC, it has faced not only alleged violent attacks by agents of the ruling APC but also discrimination from hotels and hospitality businesses in Abuja.
SEE ALSO: Two Suspected Political Thugs Killed After Attacking NDC Candidate’s Convoy in Ebonyi
The party specifically accused Rockview Hotel of cancelling agreements to provide facilities for its meetings on two separate occasions.
The first incident, according to the statement, occurred in June 2026 when the hotel allegedly withdrew its agreement to host the party’s second National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting shortly before the scheduled event.
The NDC claimed that the hotel recently rejected another request to use its facilities for a meeting, allegedly informing the party that the decision came through an “order from above.”
The party also accused BON Hotel in Wuse, Abuja, of refusing to provide its facilities for a meeting despite the NDC claiming it had fulfilled all the conditions required.
The statement further alleged that the unveiling of the party’s National Campaign Council (NCC) was nearly disrupted after its event venue initially asked the party to refund its payment, saying it was no longer interested in making its facilities available.
The NDC suggested that the decision might have resulted from alleged threats or instructions from influential quarters.
However, the party said its insistence on using the facility after making payment eventually compelled the hotel to honour the arrangement.
Describing the alleged incidents as a threat to democratic participation, the NDC called on the APC to allow opposition parties to operate freely and campaign without interference.
“This is not democracy. The APC should allow all parties to campaign without let or hindrance, and give Nigerians the opportunity to make their choice on who governs them,” the statement said.
The party also urged Nigerians and supporters of democracy to call out Rockview Hotel and BON Hotel over what it described as their “anti-people and anti-democratic actions.”
Reaffirming its commitment to national development, the NDC declared that Nigerians deserved better governance and insisted that it was prepared to serve with passion and patriotism.
“Nigerians deserve better, and NDC is prepared to serve with passion and patriotism,” the statement added.
The party concluded with its declaration that “A New Nigeria is Possible.”
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