NNPC Ltd Clears The Air On OVH Acquisition

<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h4>NNPC Ltd Clears The Air On OVH Acquisition<&sol;h4>&NewLine;<p><strong><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;openlife&period;ng&sol;">OpenLife Nigeria<&sol;a> <&sol;strong>reports that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited&comma; NNPC Ltd has cleared the air on OVH acquisition as reproduced below<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>The attention of NNPC Ltd has been drawn to a press release signed by Mr&period; Paul Ibe&comma; a Media Adviser to the former Vice President&comma; Alhaji Atiku Abubakar&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><br &sol;>&NewLine;<em><strong>In the statement&comma; the former Vice President was quoted to have lamented &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;the criminal hijack of the NNPC by corporate cabals around the current President&&num;8221&semi;&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>He was also quoted to have listed the retention of Mr&period; Mele Kyari as the Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPC Ltd as a compensation for the alleged acquisition of NNPC Retail Ltd by OVH in which he claimed Mr Wale Tinubu held 49&percnt; stake&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>He further alleged that the NNPC Retail Ltd—OVH acquisition deal was part of a grand scheme by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to integrate his personal business interests into Nigeria’s public enterprises at the federal level&period; <&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>NNPC Ltd wishes to set the records straight with the following facts&colon;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>1&period; We are a commercially-focused and profit-driven company managed by professionals who are committed to adding value to the nation&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>2&period; Investment decisions by NNPC Ltd Management are strictly determined on the basis of commercial viability and national interest&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>3&period; At the time NNPC Ltd acquired OVH in 2022&comma; Oando &lpar;in which Mr&period; Wale Tinubu has equity interest&rpar;&comma; had fully divested its equity in OVH to the two other partners – <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;vanguardngr&period;com&sol;">Vitol and Helios&period;<&sol;a> Oando actually began its divestment in 2016&comma; with Vitol and Helios coming in as equity partners&comma; leading to the change of name from Oando to OVH&period; In 2019&comma; Oando fully divested its equity interest in OVH resulting in Vitol and Helios holding 50&percnt; equity interests respectively&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>4&period;Upon acquisition of OVH by NNPC Ltd&comma; both NNPC Retail Ltd and OVH effectively became subsidiaries of NNPC Ltd&period; However&comma; based on professional advice and sound commercial considerations&comma; NNPC Ltd opted to merge NNPC Retail Limited into OVH&comma; and thereafter retain NNPC Retail Limited as the company name post-merger&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>5&period; The first step of merging NNPC Retail Ltd into OVH has been completed and the post-merger renaming as NNPC Retail Ltd is ongoing&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>6&period; Contrary to the false alarm raised&comma; neither Wale Tinubu nor the President has any interest in the OVH acquisition&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>7&period; As a businessman&comma; the former Vice President should know that effectiveness in business leadership is best measured by balance sheets and bottom lines rather than pedestrian considerations&period; <&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>8&period; The management of NNPC Ltd&comma; under the leadership of Mr&period; Mele Kyari&comma; has done very well in growing the company’s fortunes as shown in the 2023 Audited Financial Statement &lpar;AFS&rpar;&comma; where it reported N3&period;3 trillion as profit after tax&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>9&period; NNPC Ltd as a commercial entity is devoid of political interest and shall continue to conduct its business full of commitment to national interest and value creation for the benefit of all stakeholders&period; NNPC Ltd shall resist any attempt to draw its Board and Management into partisan politics&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>Olufemi O&period; Soneye<&sol;strong><&sol;em><br &sol;>&NewLine;<em><strong>Chief Corporate Communications Officer<&sol;strong><&sol;em><br &sol;>&NewLine;<em><strong>NNPC Ltd&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><br &sol;>&NewLine;<em><strong>Abuja&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;