The presidency says Seyi Tinubu, son of President Bola Tinubu, is entitled to pursue his business interests in Nigeria and around the world within the bounds of the law.
Atiku Abubakar, former Vice-President, on May 5, said there
is a conflict of interest in the federal government awarding the construction
of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal highway to Hitech Construction Company Ltd.
Abubakar said Seyi is a director on the board of CDK
Integrated Industries, a subsidiary of the Chagoury Group, which is also the
parent company of Hitech.
However, in a statement on Monday, Bayo Onanuga,
presidential spokesperson, said Seyi has been on the board of directors of CDK
since 2018.
“It is important to
state clearly that Seyi Tinubu is a 38 year-old adult who has a right to do
business and pursue his business interests in Nigeria and anywhere in the world
within the limits of the law. The fact that his father is now the President of
Nigeria does not disqualify Seyi from pursuing legitimate business interests,”
Onanuga said.
“For the records, Seyi joined the Board of Directors of CDK
in 2018, more than six years ago. He is representing the interest of an
investor company, in which he has interest.
“He is not a board member because his father is a friend of
the Chagourys. Information about owners and shareholders of CDK is a matter of
public record that can be openly accessed from the website of the Corporate
Affairs Commission and CDK’s.
“Atiku and his proxy
did not need a little-known journal to recycle open-source information to make
a fallacious argument. The Chairman of CDK and the highest shareholder of the
company is respected General TY Danjuma (rtd).”
According to the statement, the Chagourys are minority
shareholders in the company and only one member of the family on its five-man
board.
“We wonder how Seyi’s membership of the board of CDK conflicts with Hitech Construction
Company’s work on Lagos-Calabar Coastal superhighway,” Onanuga said.
‘ATIKU AND INTEL’
Onanuga questioned why Abubakar is alleging a conflict of
interest after the vice-president established Intels Nigeria with an Italian
entrepreneur while serving in the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS).
“Nigerians should, by now, be well accustomed to Atiku’s
hypocrisy on many national issues. Is it not amusing that the former Vice
President, a man who openly said he formed Intels Nigeria with an Italian
businessman when he was serving in the Nigeria Customs Service, a clear breach
of extant public service regulations, is now the one accusing someone else of
conflict of interest?” the spokesperson asked.
“When he was Vice President of Nigeria between 1999-2007, he
maintained his business links with Intels that won major port concession deals.
“Was this not an abuse of office, a flagrant violation of
his oath, that a company where he was a co-owner won major government contracts
and concessions when he was vice president?”
Meanwhile, Onanuga said infrastructural projects such as the
Lagos-Calabar Coastal highway are used to boost the economy.
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