The Chairman of Zenon Oil, Mr. Femi Otedola, has said the initial indictment of his company by the Hon. Farouk Lawan-led House of Representatives committee that probed the fuel subsidy regime was wrong.
Otedola said in this regard, the decision to reinstate his company to the list of companies indicted by the probe panel by the House was thus another wrong move.
The oil marketer, in a statement after the House took the decision to indict Zenon Oil on Friday, said that the decision was pure blackmail and aimed at extorting money from him again.
In a statement after the special sitting of the House where Lawan was suspended for collecting a bribe of $620,000 to remove Zenon from the list of indicted companies, Otedola said: “If people at my level who have worked hard to build their businesses can be blackmailed this way all in a bid to extort money from them, I pity people that are just starting out in business in this country.”
Otedola said it was obvious that the bribe demanded from him by Lawan must have had the blessing of some other members of the House.
He said: “As far as I know, Lawan could not have been working alone in this extortionist plot.
“A tree does not make a forest.
“Actions of today by the house is laughable, a mere celebration of corruption and a further indictment on their honorable member.”
Otedola said in removing his company from the list of those indicted, Lawan never requested for any further proof other than the bribe money.
He said that was why he contacted the security agencies.
He said in the statement: “He (Lawan) did this (removal of Zenon from list of indicted companies) without even asking Zenon to produce a single document of the forex transaction.
“He clearly wanted to extort money for an offence I did not commit.
“That is why I went to report to the security agencies.
“If I had anything to hide I wouldn’t have gone to the agencies.
“There is an old adage that says ‘people who live in glass houses should not throw stones.'”