“Pot Calling Kettle Black”: Jonathan’s Ex-Aide Slams Otedola Over Subsidy Claims

A former aide to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, Umar Sani, has fired back at billionaire businessman Femi Otedola, describing his recent remarks on Nigeria’s fuel subsidy regime as “hypocritical, selective, and a convenient rewriting of history.”

Otedola, in a fresh intervention last week, accused members of the Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPPMAN)—which he claimed to have founded—of sustaining a corrupt subsidy model and siphoning billions of naira through fraudulent claims. He further alleged that over N2 trillion was lost to questionable subsidy claims under the Jonathan administration.

But reacting via a statement on his X handle, Sani dismissed the allegations as misleading, stressing that the subsidy regime “predates Jonathan and lasted decades,” running through the administrations of Obasanjo, Yar’Adua, Jonathan himself, and Buhari.

“To lay the blame solely on Jonathan is dishonest, especially as Otedola himself enjoyed enormous privileges during that period,” Sani wrote.

According to him, Otedola’s company, Zenon Petroleum and Gas Ltd, once controlled nearly 90 percent of diesel imports and benefitted massively from the same subsidy framework the billionaire now criticizes.

Sani also recalled that Jonathan established the Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede forensic audit panel to unmask subsidy exploiters, but efforts at deregulation were derailed by entrenched interests. He further referenced the high-profile Otedola-Farouk Lawan scandal, where the businessman admitted giving marked money to the lawmaker, later claiming it was part of a sting operation.

“Rather than feigning moral superiority, Otedola should come clean. His comments appear more like image-laundering than truth-telling. Nigerians deserve honesty, full disclosure and historical accuracy,” Sani stated.

He challenged Otedola to support an independent inquiry into subsidy transactions across all administrations, including the periods he allegedly profited from.

“Until then, his accusations amount to nothing more than a pot calling the kettle black,” Sani declared.