Court Transfers NNPCL’s Asset to OVH Energy, Operator Of Oando
The downstream arm of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL, has transferred its ownership and assets to OVH Energy Marketing Limited, the operator of Oando Petroleum and a company owned by President Bola Tinubu’s nephew Wale Tinubu.
The court ruling effectively dissolves NNPC Retail, the primary importer of petrol in Nigeria, and transfers its ownership and operations to OVH Energy Marketing Limited, which now assumes full control of the entity.
Meanwhile, the manner of which the transaction was conducted has raised concerns with an employee of NNPC Retail describing it as “criminal.”
In October 2022, NNPC announced that it had acquired OVH Energy Marketing, owner and operator of the Oando downstream assets from Nueoil Energy Limited a month after Nueoil Energy acquired OVH in September 2022.
This acquisition will allowed NNPC Retail Limited build on the existing success of OVH and operate model service outlets leveraging OVH’s extensive asset base and commercial capabilities, it said.
Two months ago, NNPCL, OVH and Nueoil filed a joint petition before Justice C.J. Aneke of the Federal High Court in Lagos on 24 June, asking the court to grant eight orders including the dissolution of NNPC Retail and Nueoil without being wound up
They also sought the approval of the transfer of their assets to OVH Energy Marketing. Justice Aneke subsequently granted the eight orders, making the merger effective from January 2024.
The acquisition includes a range of assets from OVH Energy, operator of Oando filling stations, comprising a reception jetty with a monthly capacity of 240,000 metric tonnes, eight liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) plants, three lube blending plants, three aviation depots and 12 warehouses.
Investigation by Premium Times revealed secret deals and a complex ownership structure behind the acquisition, which resulted in OVH Energy Marketing gaining managerial control of NNPC Retail.
The report also uncovered discrepancies in OVH Energy’s claimed number of filling stations during merger talks.
Furthermore, it exposed how Huub Stokman, OVH Energy’s former CEO, became NNPC Retail’s new Managing Director, adding to the complexity.
The investigation additionally found that the acquisition had created a toxic work environment at NNPC Retail, with OVH Energy officials dominating the management.
Meanwhile, the House of Representatives has launched an investigation into the controversial acquisition, with many lawmakers describing a report presented on the matter as “suspicious and shabby.” The investigation continues under the House Committee on Petroleum Resources (Downstream).
Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has said President Bola Tinubu has effectively mortgaged Nigeria’s future to himself, his family and associates to an extent that even after he leaves office, it would be nearly impossible for the nation to break free from his shackles.
Atiku, who was the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate in 2023, compared Tinubu’s integration of his business interests into Lagos’s public enterprises to his efforts at the federal level in a statement yesterday by his media office in Abuja.
Atiku said: “Just as Alpha Beta, Primero, and others act as Tinubu’s proxies in Lagos, managing critical sectors and generating revenue for him and his family, he has begun to replicate this at the federal level.”
He expressed astonishment at the operations of the NNPC and how the government-owned oil company had put its retail arm under the control of OVH, a company in which Oando, led by Wale Tinubu, owns 49 per cent.
