THE Chairman and Chief Executive, Capital Oil and Gas Industries Limited, Chief Ifeanyi Ubah, has said a court order for the forfeiture of his company’s facilty would aggravate the already worsening fuel supply and distribution across the country.
He also alleged that the court order was part of a grand plan to take over his business, which he said, accounted for 35 per cent of supply and distribution of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
Ubah made this known in a release made available to Sunday Tribune, adding that he had already complied with the court order.
Justice A. Abdu-Kafarati of the Federal High Court, Abuja, had granted an ex-parte order for the temporary forfeiture of the company’s assets, especially its jetties and depots located at Apapa, Lagos with immediate effect.
Ubah had been engaged in a three-pronged battle with Coscharis, Access Bank and AMCON over fuel subsidy issue.
He said his company, in compliance with the court order, had, since Friday, stopped operations with a total load-out of 224 trucks of PMS (equivalent of 8,151,270 litres) belonging to NNPC.
He said that would be the last operation till further notice, adding; “We hope this will not aggravate the already worsening fuel supply and distribution being experienced in the country.”
He also alleged that the findings by the Aig-Imoukhuede-led committee on subsidy was aimed at killing his business interest.
“We had cried out that the unsubstantiated findings by the Aig-Imoukhuede Committee were strangulating our business by denying us access to payments from the Federal Goverment, credit, business partners, goodwill as well as making us look like criminals and people without integrity.
“Before the court order, our operations had been greatly threatened. Now the open-secret plan to take over our business has materialised.
“This is no doubt a clear case of victimisation. Nigerians will unfortunately be worse for it. If only they had put the nation’s interest first.
“That a company like ours, which accounts for about 35 per cent of daily petroleum products distribution in Nigeria, can be the subject of such an application and court order is baffling.
“The government has refused to pay us. It would appear that those who want to take over our business are succeeding with the aid of their friends in government.
“They came up with subsidy we defended it and they could not refute our defense. They came up with Access Bank and Coscharis, we went to court and they refused to appear. Rather, they went to a United Kingdom (UK) court. Now they are coming with AMCON.
