Intels disagrees with Atiku over sale of interests

• ‘No political influence on our business’
Intels Nigeria Limited has said its business is not being hindered by political influences from the current administration, contrary to the claim by former Vice-President, Atiku Abubakar.

The company had on Monday announced that it had severed ties with Atiku, one of its shareholders, after the former vice president sold his interests in Intels’ parent company, Orlean Invest Holding, through a series of transactions executed through Guernsey Trust, in deals that began in December 2018 and was concluded in 2020.

Atiku, who confirmed his divestment from the company, said his action was caused by alleged move by President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration to destroy Intels because of political differences.

But in a statement issued yesterday, spokesman for Intels Nigeria Limited–Orlean Invest Group, Tommaso Ruffinoni, said the company’s decisions was devoid of political considerations as “it has always operated according to market logic”.

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

“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,” it stated.