By Eric Elezuo
Following the war of words, or as Chief Dele Momodu puts it, the cold war going on currently between Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote and his refinery on one hand, and the Federal Government of Nigeria on the other hand, regarding alleged sabotage and frustration in the supply of crude oil and legitimacy, another Nigerian businessman in the oil sector, Chief Tony Chinyere, has spoken up again, calling out the government of Nigeria of deliberately seeking the downfall of Dangote Refinery on the same way they ruined his refinery in Sierra Leone many years ago.
Chief Chinyere, the Chairman of Cross Oceans West Africa Limited, who is regarded as the richest foreigner in the West African country told The Boss in an exclusive conversation that the government of Nigeria, presently led by Bola Tinubu, is on the verge of frustrating and ruining Dangote and his refinery in the same manner the frustrated him out of business many years ago, and covered it up with executive fiat.
Chinyere is also the Chairman of Nigerian Community, and President of Nigerian Union in Sierra Leone. According to him, “I’m everything for Nigeria in Sierra Leone”, and that gave him the leverage to front for Nigeria in Sierra Leone’s internal affairs.
“Chief Tony Chinyere, Chairman of Cross Oceans West Africa Limited, who owns 18.07 per cent equity in West Africa Refinery Company, WARCO, otherwise called Abacha Refinrey has, for over a year been fighting alleged sharp practices by the Nigerian Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) in the sale of the Federal Government’s holding in the refinery, the only such facility in Sierra Leone. Beyond dragging the parties to court of law in Sierra Leone, Chinyere had asked former President Olusegun Obasanjo and the late President Ahmed Tejan Kabbah, at different times, to wade into the crisis. He had equally made concessionary offers to end the contentious matter, but the opposing party had different ideas, allegedly conniving with the BPE and Oando Plc and deploying underhand tactics to perpetuate its hold on the disputed company.
“Genesis of the crisis
“TheNEWS gathered that the WARCO saga began after Unipetrol, (now Oando Plc), on Chief Chinyere’s intervention and facilitation successfully bid for the liquidation of Sierra Leone Refinery Company for $1.2 million.
“Chinyere stated that “WARCO was formed in 1995 after Unipetrol bid for the liquidated Sierra Leone Refinery. “After the bid, Cross Oceans, a company in which Chinyere had controlling shares, was subsequently offered 18.07 per cent of the total shares of WARCO valued at $388,000, which was fully paid for; and was, therefore, made a pioneer director of the company, alongside a representative of Unipetrol Nigeria (Oando).”
“The Federal Government of Nigeria at the inception, had no stake in WARCO but got involved when it confiscated the shares of companies in the refinery traced to the late Head of State, General Sani Abacha. After taking over Abacha’s stocks and in line with its policy to divest shares from the refinery, the Federal Government instructed the Bureau of Public Enterprises to sell the shares. Oando also decided to sell its shares, opting to do so through the BPE and the stocks consolidated as 72.66 per cent with FG’s 48.44 per cent and Oando’s 24.22 per cent.
“The Cross Oceans boss accused the officials of BPE and Oando of deliberately manipulating the bidding process, undervaluing the shares and selling to a front, Mr. Thorlu Bangura, a Sierra Leonean, owner of Majestic Oil. Conditions issued by the BPE, while inviting strategic investors for expression of interest, clearly precluded Majestic Oil, it was gathered. For instance, evidence of successful investment in and management of downstream oil and gas companies was a key qualifying demand which Majestic Oil could not have met. Official records in Sierra Leone available to TheNEWS indicated that the company was incorporated in 2002 and “remained inactive since incorporation.” It only roared to life in 2004 to emerge as BPE’s preferred bidder for the FG/Oando shares.
“It was further gathered that the provision of WARCO’s Memorandum and Articles of Association,which allowed existing shareholders right of first offer in the event that any of the owners decided to sell his holding, was disregarded. A meeting was purported to have been held where those provisions were suspended. Chief Chinyere claimed not to have been invited to the meeting.
“During the bidding process, Oando disclosed to the would-be bidders of the existence of a debenture loan granted WARCO to the tune of $602,272, which with accrued interest had risen to $922,229.04. The disclosure of the liability was meant to scare bidders to give opportunity to manipulate the process, the Cross Oceans chairman alleged. He buttressed his argument with the revelation that soon after the other bidders withdrew, Oando and BPE, without recourse to other shareholders, reduced the debenture loan to $308,809.45 without informing the other bidders.
““As if that was not enough fraud, soon after the alleged sale (to Majestic Oil), they (Oando and BPE) met again without reference to shareholders and further reduced the debenture loan to $194,804.50,” Chinyere stated. According to him, the value of the consolidated shares of FG and Oando (72 per cent), which is $1,560,000 was surprisingly sold to Majestic Oil for a paltry $363,300. “The amount is below the $388,000 my company paid in 1995 for a mere 18.07 per cent shares,” the Cross Oceans boss lamented. “Could that be said to be a very transparent way of selling government shares and interest in a company?” he queried.
“Cross Oceans headed for court
“Apparently aggrieved by the developments, Cross Oceans headed for the law court in Sierra Leone and got an injunction against Majestic Oil. The Federal Government and Oando were the other defendants in the suit, challenging the sale of WARCO shares. The trial judge, A.B. Raschid, ordered officials, employees and agents of Majestic Oil to “vacate the offices and facility of the first defendant (WARCO).” The Judge further pronounced that Majestic Oil should not re-enter the premises and facility of WARCO at Kissy Dockyard in Freetown until the hearing of the application brought by council to Cross Oceans had been heard. Cross Oceans was also granted the right of access to WARCO to verify that Majestic Oil was complying with the injunctions.
“Despite the court injunction, BPE and Oando were eager to hand over WARCO to Majestic Oil and at a meeting held in Freetown, they purportedly appointed Mr Thorlu Bangura and his relations as alternate directors to represent their interests in the company. “How can you explain a situation whereby shares held by a Nigerian in a foreign land, whose transfer was put on hold by a law court, was now consigned to a family whose members were never legally known to the BPE and Oando? This is the mother of all frauds being perpetrated by officials of a country that is supposedly fighting corruption,” Chief Chinyere lamented.
“Sierra Leonean government’s intervention
“Because of the strategic importance of WARCO to the Sierra Leonean economy, Attorney-General summoned a meeting of the contending parties in February 2005 and despite the count injunction in his favour, Chief Chinyere conceded to the brokered arrangement excluding both Cross Oceans and Majestic Oil from running the refinery. A committee comprising Sierra Leonean government agencies was set up to run the refinery until contrary instructions come from the court.
“The Cross Oceans boss said he consented to the Sierra Leonean government’s arrangement for an independent body to oversee the refinery’s operation to avoid being blackmailed as being adamant and out to sabotage that country’s economy.
“Majestic Oil has, with the connivance of Sierra Leonean government officials been allegedly circumventing the arrangement, operating WARCO and diverting its moneys into private accounts. Bangura, it was learnt, mockingly offered to buy out Cross Oceans from WARCO, offering $165,000 for the company’s 18.07 per cent holding bought for $388,000 in 1995.
“This is contrary to Cross Oceans concessionary offer to refund $363,300 paid to BPE/Oando to Majestic Oil and in addition offer the company 10 per cent of the FG/Oando’s consolidated shares free of charge and make Mr. Thorlu Bangura chairman of WARCO. Alternatively, Chief Chinyere offered to be bought out for the sum of $500,000.
“FG’s disturbing silence
“Although it is believed that the mishandling of the WARCO shares sale led to the sack of former Director-General of BPE, Dr. J.J. Bala, the Federal Government’s intervention to redress the wrongs in the WARCO affair is yet to materialise. The Sierra Leonean Attorney General was said to have quoted his Nigerian counterpart as affirming that the Federal Government’s shares were sold to Majestic Oil and pleading that the matter be resolved to avoid embarrassing the Nigerian government in the on-going court action. The Sierra Leonean Attorney-General also urged Chinyere to seek redress in Nigeria as Majestic Oil was holding FG and Oando’s shares, threatening that he would advise his government to impose a decision and repossess the refinery.
“The development appears to be assuming the status whereby Sierra Leone would protect one of her own against a foreigner, while Nigeria looks eager to sacrifice her own citizen in a deal made awry by government officials. The question about who wins at the close of this two-nation contest blows in the wind.
“The matter was taken to the ECOWAS Court for adjudication. TheNEWS was reliably informed that the ECOWAS Court has referred the matter to the Nigerian Courts for further adjudication.”
Chinyere recalled with copious documents, some of which are on Federal government reports requesting that he be invited and compensated to the role he played for Nigeria and ECOMOG, and how ‘one thousand battalion of soldiers were released by the rebels’.
He added that “I negotiated for their release, and they wrote me that they were going to give an award, but till date, there’s no award.”
Further in his narrative, Chinyere called out the Bureau for Public Enterprise for their role in making it impossible for him to get what belongs to him.
He said: “How can BPE give me support when they took the role to act as informers against a Nigerian investor by giving information to a Sierra Leone company that has no track record about Oil Refinery and was recently registered, and has not even paid taxes to Sierra Leone Government, now became the winner of highly prepared tender by BPE. All that took place was inside dealing and suppling information about my business to Majestic Oil in Sierra Leone.
“After admitting that they did things very wrong in their own report and recommended that I should be invited to be paid compensation up to date after winning all court cases in Sierra Leone, they still did not invite me to discuss my settlement while they agreed that after the release of their visit to Sierra Leone that they will act with honesty to settle this matter.
“Now it’s the Government of Sierra Leone and other fake Nigerian business men that are enjoying the benefits of my investment while I’m left to suffer all humiliation.
“This not good for our country that I have saved in many capacity even saving the life of 1,000 Nigerian soldiers that were captured by the rebels in Sierra Leone where the Embassy nominated me as president of Nigerian Union in Sierra Leone to go and release my brothers from the rebels, which I did and they asked me that I should use my helicopter to bring out the rebel leader from the bush which I did because the western Government failed to render such help to ECOMOG and Nigerian Government but I did again because I believe in my country Nigeria, and we are taught to be good ambassadors when we are in a foreign country.
“The Nigerian government recommended that I should be honoured by our government, but up till now I did not even receive a thank you letter from our Government or any invitation for what I have been doing for our Government rather it’s the opposite to help other people to destroy all my business I worked hard to build.
“I’m lost with words as I don’t know what to do anymore when everyone has condemned what BPE did even the man that BPE sold to his company in writing and all these are captured in the federal Government report written to the presidency for action to settle my payment.”
Chinyere has maintained that till present, his payment has not been initiated not to talk of completed.
“The same gang fighting Dangote today is the same gang that destroyed my business in Sierra Leone,” Chinyere concluded.
Documents supplied by Chief Tony Chinyere
