Femi Otedola, a billionaire businessman, has denied allegations that he provided funding for the Dangote Petroleum Refinery, calling the assertions untrue and deceptive.
Contrary to rumors circulating on social media, Otedola denied investing in the refinery project in a post posted on X on Monday.
“It is wholly untrue to say that Femi Otedola financed the Dangote Petroleum Refinery. Not a single kobo, dollar, or naira has been invested by him.
The truth is that Mr. Otedola has been asking for a special allocation to take part in the refinery’s upcoming public offer, which those who are spreading these lies conveniently ignore,” he stated,
Otedola went on to explain that neither he nor other well-known businesspeople were asked for financial assistance by Aliko Dangote, the President of the Dangote Group.
“I can state with certainty that Alhaji Dangote never asked Mr. Elumelu, Mr. Adenuga, or myself for funding,” the Dangote Group is a well-organized company that raises a lot of structured finance for its operations,” he continued.
According to Otedola, the circulating allegations are an intentional attempt to sow discord among Nigeria’s business sector.
“This is calculated mischief and a deliberate attempt to create rifts and sow discord within Nigeria’s closely knit and respected private sector leadership. These are men who have built businesses, created jobs, and invested in this nation for decades. They deserve better than to be used as props in a social media fabrication,” he said.
He emphasized the need of using social media responsibly and cautioned those responsible for the reports to stop.
“To those responsible, stop right away. Furthermore, social media is not a tool for staged drama, according to everyone else, Nigeria deserves the truth, not lies disguised as insider information,” he declared
Otedola’s explanation coincides with the Dangote Group’s continuous attempts to refute claims that the multibillion-dollar refinery project was funded by personal loans from business associates, including as Tony Elumelu and Mike Adenuga.
The corporation called allegations of a rift between Dangote and Elumelu “false, malicious, and baseless” in a statement released on Sunday, emphasizing that neither the billionaire nor the organization made the statements that were attributed to them.
The Dangote Group has learned that a publication titled “Aliko Dangote Speaks Out on Why He Distanced Himself from Tony Elumelu” is untrue, spiteful, and unfounded. The statement said, in part, “The President and the Group never made such statements or expressed such sentiments.”
The corporation insisted that its funding structure adhered to regular corporate procedures and rejected allegations that the refinery was financed through unofficial personal loans.
“As a matter of principle, Aliko Dangote does not engage in financing arrangements of such kind or finance his enterprises through personal borrowing from friends. It further stated, “Anyone making such claims should offer verifiable evidence to support them.”
The Dangote Group insisted that Elumelu and Dangote still had a friendly relationship while cautioning against the dissemination of false information that could erode trust in Nigeria’s private sector.
