. Atiku Sold His Shares, Collected $5.4m Balance From Us – Intels
Former Vice President of Nigeria, Atiku Abubakar has finally sold-off his shares in Integrated Logistics Services Limited.
This was confirmed in a statement issued on Monday by his media aide, Paul Ibe, titled ‘Atiku redirects his investment in Intels’.
Ibe explained that one of the reasons Atiku sold his shares was General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.)’s led Federal Government’s alleged pre-occupation to destroy “a legitimate business”.
The statement read, “Co-founder of Integrated Logistics Services Nigeria Limited (Intels), Atiku Abubakar, has been selling his shares in Intels over the years.
“It 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.
“He has sold his shares in Intels and redirected his investment to other sectors of the economy for returns and creation of jobs. There should be a marked difference between Politics and Business.”
Intels, also on Monday confirmed that it has severed ties with Abubakar and his family after the former Vice President sold off his shares and exited the company last year.
Intels spokesman, Tommaso Ruffinoni, said in a statement that Atiku Abubakar, through his trust named Guernsey Trust International, sold shares of Orlean-Invest Group, Intels parent company, between December 2018 and January 2019, for a sum of approximately 60 million dollars.
“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 dollars.
“When he requested to cash in the above mentioned sum, our Group contested to Abubakar a debt, towards our Group, of 24.1million dollars.
“Without having received any answer regarding the matter, on Nov. 30, 2020 Abubakar was informed about the set off of such sum while we made available the remaining sum of 5.4 million dollars.
“With the completion of the above mentioned transactions, the era of Abubakar family’s involvement with the Group Orlean-Intels is over,” he said.
He noted that on Dec. 1, 2020 the Group terminated also its working relationship with Abubakar’s sons, Mr Adamu Atiku Abubakar and Mr Aminu Atiku Abubakar.
“Since that date our Group does not have any contacts, neither direct nor indirect, with members of Abubakar’s family,” Ruffinoni said.
Monday’s confirmation climax years of threat to Intels interests owing to the political interests of Atiku Abubakar.
Recall that, in 2017, the Federal Government had directed the Nigerian Ports Authority to terminate its pilotage contract with Intels.
Citing reasons for the contract termination, the NPA alleged that Intels refused to get on the Treasury Single Account platform.
Then, the resulting feud brought the majority shareholder in Intels, Gabrielle Volpi, to Nigeria, where he apologised to the Federal Government and pledged his firm’s commitment to transfer all the revenue collected from the boats monitoring and supervision services in Nigerian maritime waters to the TSA with the Central Bank of Nigeria, in compliance with the policy of the Federal Government.
Later in December 2017, there were reports that NPA had resolved the dispute with the logistics giant.
But in May 2019, news broke that NPA had once again cancelled the pilotage contract, citing Intels’ failure to remit $145.84m being outstanding service boat revenue generated from November 1, 2017, to October 31, 2018.
The NPA, in a letter to the logistics giant, accused it of failing to remit $55.72m, which it pledged to remit in a letter dated February 12, 2019, and $145.84m, which the NPA demanded via various letters.
In its defence, Intels reportedly denied the outstanding sum of $145.84m while adding that its pledge to pay the sum of $55.70m as revenue for the period from November 1, 2017, to March 31, 2019, was predicated on NPA’s payment of $19.67m.
NPA has, however, denied that its action was politically motivated and stemming from the feud between the presidential candidate of PDP, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, who is a shareholder in Intels and President Muhammadu Buhari.
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