- The NNPCL imminent transfer of its Retail ownership and assets to OVH is sequel to a court approval.
Barring any last minute changes or unforeseen circumstances, OVH Energy Marketing Limited will assume ownership of all retained assets of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).
OVH is the operator of Oando Petroleum, a company owned by President Bola Tinubu’s nephew Wale Tinubu.
The NNPCL imminent transfer of its Retail ownership and assets to OVH is sequel to a court approval.
The NNPCL Retail is primary importer of petrol in Nigeria
In October 2022, the NNPCL disclosed 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, which would.
This transaction allowed the NNPCL to leverage on the already existing success of OVH and create an opportunity for the state-owned company to utilise the business model of Oando service outlets nationwide.
However, 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.
Meanwhile, the manner of which the deal was conducted has raised eyebrows with an employee of NNPC Retail calling it “criminal.”
An investigation by Premium Times also exposed discrepancies in OVH Energy’s claimed number of filling stations during merger talks with OVH Energy’s former CEO Huub Stokman being uncovered as NNPC Retail’s new Managing Director, making the deal more complicated.
Former Vice president, Atiku Abubakar, also expressed concerns over the manner the deal between NNPCL and OVH was conducted.
Atiku, who described the deal as “criminal hijack” owing to the lack of transparency that characterised it, stated that Tinubu has mortgaged the future of Nigeria and his cabal has hijacked the state-owned Petroleum company.