Onanuga stated that the fact that Seyi Tinubu’s father is now President of Nigeria does not preclude him from pursuing lawful commercial interests.
According to the Presidency, Seyi Tinubu has the freedom to pursue his business interests in Nigeria and anyplace else in the globe as long as he does it legally.
This is in response to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s statement criticising the awarding of the contract for the Lagos-Calabar coastal route to Hitech Construction Company Ltd.
According to Atiku, the contract award to Hitech Construction Company Ltd constitutes a conflict of interest because Seyi Tinubu, President Bola Tinubu’s son, is a director on the board of CDK Integrated Industries, a subsidiary of the Chagoury Group that also owns Hitech.
However, in a statement signed by the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, the Presidency accused Atiku of hypocrisy on a number of national problems. Advertisement
Onanuga stated that the fact that Seyi Tinubu’s father is now President of Nigeria does not preclude him from pursuing lawful commercial interests.
The presidential assistant stated that Seyi Tinubu joined CDK’s Board of Directors in 2018, more than six years ago, and that he represents the interests of an investor business.
Onanuga said it was unusual that Atiku could accuse Tinubu of a conflict of interest in the award of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway to Hitech Construction Company. “Isn’t it amusing that the former Vice President, who openly stated that he founded Intels Nigeria with an Italian businessman while serving in the Nigeria Customs Service, a clear violation of existing public service regulations, is now accusing someone else of a conflict of interest?”
“When he was Vice President of Nigeria from 1999 to 2007, he maintained economic ties with Intels, which obtained key port concession contracts.
As Chairman of the National Council on Privatisation, he sanctioned the sale of over 145 state-owned firms to known cronies and colleagues, and he openly stated during his failed presidential campaign last year that he would do the same if elected.”
He stated that, contrary to Atiku’s claim that the Chagourys own the CDK, the company’s Chairman and largest stakeholder is revered General TY Danjuma (rtd). He further stated that the Chagourys are minority stockholders in the corporation, with only one member of the clan serving on its five-man board. Advertisement
It is critical to declare unequivocally that Seyi Tinubu is a 38-year-old adult with the right to do business and pursue his economic interests in Nigeria and anyplace in the world within the boundaries of the law. The fact that his father is now Nigeria’s President does not prevent Seyi from pursuing lawful economic interests.
“For the record, Seyi joined CDK’s Board of Directors in 2018, over six years ago. He represents the interests of an investor business in which he has a stake. He is not a board member because his father is friends with the Chagourys.
Information about CDK’s owners and shareholders is public information and can be obtained freely via the Corporate Affairs Commission’s and CDK’s websites. Atiku and his proxies did not require a little-known journal to recycle open-source information to create a false claim.
“The Chairman of CDK and the company’s largest shareholder is renowned General TY Danjuma (rtd). The Chagourys are minority stockholders in the corporation, with only one member of the clan serving on its five-person board.
We are curious as to how Seyi’s CDK board membership contradicts with Hitech Construction Company’s work on the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Superhighway,” the statement said in part.