Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar said he has been selling his shares in Integrated Logistics Services Nigeria Limited (Intels) over the years, accusing the Buhari administration of working to destroy a legitimate business.
Atiku is a co-founder of Intels together with Gabriele Volpi, an Italian national who also has Nigerian citizenship.
Atiku, in a statement by his media adviser Paul Ibe, said the selling of his shares “assumed greater urgency in the last five years, because this Government has been preoccupied with destroying a legitimate business that was employing thousands of Nigerians because of politics.
“There should be a marked difference between Politics and Business.
“Yes, he has sold his shares in Intels and redirected his investment to other sectors of the economy for returns and creation of jobs.”
Dateline Nigeria reports that the Managing Director of the Nigerian Port Authority (NPA) Hadiza Bala Usman had only last month accused Intels of using political influence to operate outside of the legal framework of the Nigerian maritime regulations.
In an interview with Arise TV, the NPA boss ruled out politics in its dealing with Intels, noting that it only reclaimed its services after the contract with Intels expired.
“I don’t see what is political about a company complying with TSA. So, if government says all revenue of government should go into the Treasury Single Account and a private company refuses to comply, and government says you must comply, what’s political about that?
“In fact, who’s being political here? It is Intels, which has always had political advantage and always difficult to get them to comply with government’s directives. So, can we look at it that way, because I am curious as to what’s political about the fact that your contract ended and the NPA is reclaiming back its service.
“How is it political that your contract ended on August 9 and government said now that your contract has ended, we will continue that service you rendered and pay that your sister company for any revenue that arises and you say ‘No, I must be the service provider’. So, what’s political about that?”
