Anthony Iwuoma
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in last year’s general election, on Monday, disclosed how the Federal Government frustrated him out of Integrated Logistics Services Nigeria Limited (Intels), which he had co-founded.
Speaking in a statement by his media aide, Paul Ibe, Atiku accused the government of destroying genuine business in the name of politics and that it had forced him to hurriedly sell off his shares in the company over the last five years.
The statement read: “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.”
Intels spokesman, Tommaso Ruffinoni, confirmed that the company severed its relationship with Atiku and his family last year when the former vice president formally exited the company.
Ruffinoni recalled that Atiku, who was one of Intels’ major shareholders, sold shares of Orlean-Invest Group, Intels parent company, had through his trust named Guernsey Trust International, between December 2018 and January 2019, for about $60 million.
He said: “In the period between April and May 2020, Abubakar converted his remaining shares into a convertible bond that he subsequently monetised up to a residual sum of approximately $29 million. When he requested to cash in the above-mentioned sum, our Group contested to Abubakar a debt, towards our Group, of $24.1 million.
“Without having received any answer regarding the matter, on November 30, 2020, Abubakar was informed about the set-off of such sum while we made available the remaining sum of $5.4 million. With the completion of the above-mentioned transactions, the era of Abubakar family’s involvement with the Group Orlean-Intels is over.”
