Why Many Eyes Are On Dangote In Otedola & Obaigbena Debt Fight

It is no longer news that billionaires Femi Otedola and Nduka Obaigbena have put years of friendship aside to engage in an all-out war over a $225.8 million debt.

First Bank of Nigeria, with Otedola as chairman, has taken a drastic step to recoup a $225.8 million debt Obaigbena’s company, General Hydrocarbons Limited, reportedly secured but failed to repay.

The bank secured a court order directing all Nigerian banks to blacklist Obaigbena—who is also the chairman of ThisDay Media Group and Arise News—as well as his family members serving on the board of the indebted oil servicing firm: Efe Damilola Obaigbena and Olabisi Eka Obaigbena. Their assets within the court’s jurisdiction have been frozen, with funds in bank accounts linked to them no longer accessible.

Obaigbena accused Otedola of masterminding the move, sparking a high-profile row that appears unlikely to abate any time soon.

But away from the accusations and counter-accusations decorating the messy face-off, more eyes are turning to Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, a friend to the warring money men.

“This is because of the shared history of Dangote, Otedola, and Obaigbena,” according to insiders.

Findings revealed that it was Obaigbena who settled the 2009 make-or-mar fight between Otedola and Dangote.

“It was at Obaigbena’s Lagos residence that they first shared breakfast in August 2009 after months of all-out war that resulted in countless smear campaigns and multiple court cases,” added sources.

Obaigbena was relentless in resolving the all-out war that shredded the fabrics of the admirable rapport between Otedola and Dangote in 2009—and succeeded where many failed.

Otedola and Dangote emerged from the discord, occasioned by encroachment into “delineated” business terrains, to forge a stronger bond.

“Now, many are looking at Dangote to see the role he would play in the raging dispute between Otedola and Obaigbena,” sources in high society noted.

Just like the Otedola and Obaigbena quarrel, the Otedola and Dangote discord was a business dispute gone haywire.

Otedola accused Dangote of backing a consortium that included his family investment firm, MRS Holdings, headed by his cousin Sayyu Dantata, to outbid his company—Zenon Oil—in the takeover of Chevron’s investments in Texaco’s local and West African downstream operations.

The deal, which saw MRS pay $1 billion for Chevron’s West African division, torpedoed Otedola’s $200 million offer for Nigeria’s operations and was labeled a breach of a gentleman’s agreement never to encroach into each other’s businesses.

All hell broke loose between the friends—until Obaigbena championed the move that salvaged the situation and helped restore their friendship, forging a bond that grew even stronger.