Intels refutes Atiku’s claim, says business not hindered by Buhari govt

Integrated Logistics Services Limited (Intels) has refuted a claim made by a former Nigerian vice president, Atiku Abubakar, about the influence of the Muhammadu Buhari administration on its operation in Nigeria.

PREMIUM TIMES reported how Mr Abubakar claimed that he sold his shares in the company because of the influence of the Muhammadu Buhari government.

Mr Abubakar, former vice president and presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the 2019 general elections, said he was forced to divest his shares in the company because the Buhari administration has been “preoccupied with destroying” it since 2015.

However, in a statement by Tommaso Ruffinoni, Intels spokesperson, the company said it had always operated according to market logic.

It added that the “ongoing contradictions are part of a natural commercial divergence, which will hopefully be resolved”.

The company said Mr Abubakar’s decision to sell off his shares was based on economic reasons and irreconcilable differences with its new governance structure.

It also refuted claims that its operations have been hindered by the Buhari administration.

“Intels Nigeria Limited and with it its parent company Orlean Invest Holding in relation to some statements that appeared in the press yesterday and today, categorically denies that its business has at some time been hindered by political influences from the current government,” the statement said.

READ ALSO: Atiku sells off shares in Intels, blames Buhari for decision

“The company has always operated according to market logic, thanks to its history and commitment to the development of the Nigerian economy in the oil and gas logistics sector. The ongoing contradictions are part of a natural commercial divergence, which will hopefully be resolved, as in the past, by a new approach, in the interest of all the parties, also according to the social role that Intels plays in the country.

“The severance from the world of Atiku Abubakar was an economic decision, in the exclusive interest of the company, and to irreconcilable strategic differences with the new governance structure of the Intels – Orlean Invest Group.”

In recent years, Intels has had a running battle with the Nigerian government, resulting in the cancellation of the company’s 17-year-old pilotage monitoring contract with the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA).