The Hausa say that a bit with a sharp bite is the remedy for a mad horse. There are some questions over just how sharp a bit the new President Yar’Adua is willing to use on the Nigerian oil industry. The questions arise because of his family’s long and deep relations with that industry.

{mosgoogle}In a recent article in “African Energy Intelligence” the question of Yar’Adua’s ties to the oil industry were raised. The elder brother of Yar'Adua, Shehu Yar’Adua, who was Olusegun Obasanjo’s vice president in the former president’s first term of office, took part in founding the oil logistics and port concern Intels. Run out of London by two Italian nationals, Jan Angelo Perruchi and Gabriele Volpi, as well as by France’s Daniel Sigaud, Intels manages the oil terminals and oil services zones at Port Harcourt, Calabar and Warri and is also active in Ivory Coast, Congo-B and Angola. It is more often associated in the public mind with Atiku Abubakar than Yar’Adua but the Yar’Adua family is the bedrock of the company.

Since Shehu Yar’Adua’s death in prison in 1997, his family’s interests in Intels have been managed by his widow, Hajia Binta Yar’Adua. Intels has also employed several nephews of Umaru Yar’Adua, notably Murtala Yar’Adua, eldest son of Shehu. Intels direct access to the Presidency is unlikely to cause it any harm, despite the ties to Atiku.

There are also ties directly to the NNPC. One of the top executives of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and the man picked to be its next General Manger is Abubakar Lawal Yar’Adua (A.L. Yar’Adua). Lawal Yar’Adua is group executive director in charge of refineries and petrochemicals. Lawal Abubakar Yar'adua joined NNPC/KRPC as Project Engineer in July 1977, and then held a number of positions, and was in August 2003 promoted to Group Executive Director for Refining & Petrochemicals at NNPC. Although they share the same family name (the Hausa language name for a tree in northern Nigeria) A.L. Yar’Adua and the new president aren’t close relatives. However, both hail from the town of Katsina in northern Nigeria and have known each other since childhood, when they were raised together in the 1960s.

Intels is not the only Yar’Adua link to the oil industry. The British group Afren, which is chaired by former OPEC secretary-general Rilwanu Lukman, was the first company to form a tie with members of the Yar’Adua family. Earlier this spring, Afren penned an agreement with the Nigerian oil concern Independent Energy to take part in financing the marginal Ofa field, which Independent Energy won earlier in the present decade. One of Independent Energy’s executives is Murtala Yar’Adua.

The Indian-Russian group Suntera has also forged ties with the Yar’Adua clan. Headed by Steve Lowden in London, Suntera teamed up with the Nigerian group Gas Transmission & Power on OPL 905. The group is headed by Babangida Hassan Katsina, cousin of the new president and son of major-general Hassan Usman Katsina, who was governor of the northern region of Nigeria in the 1960s. A member of the northern elite Babangida Hassan Katsina once headed the Kaduna Polo Club.

{mosgoogle}Yar’Adua has had long ties to Andy Young and Carl Masters of Goodworks International, This firm is a consulting firm with direct contracts with the Nigerian Presidency (and supervising the Presidential Library) through Obasanjo and runs a joint oil company with Obasanjo delivering crude oil to Jamaica (and a property company in Florida). In December 1978, two months after Jamaican President Manley approached Obasanjo, Jamaica secured an agreement to lift 5.475 million barrels of Nigerian light crude, or 15,000 barrels per day, at prices set by Nigeria... The very next year, 1979, a second oil crisis would erupt, largely linked to troubles in oil-producing Iran, and volatility in the market would push crude prices up to US$38 per barrel. The 'evergreen' contract secured with Nigeria was renewable annually. Eventually, supplies were boosted to 20,000 barrels per day in 1990, and the current arrangement is for 10.95 million barrels per year or 30,000 barrels per day. This has recently been the subject of a major scandal in Jamaica as the Good Works-Obasanjo partnership has waxed fat on commissions on the Jamaica oil supply.

An ex adviser to Young when he was mayor of Atlanta and then at the U.N., Jacqueline Farris, was very close to Shehu Yar’Adua when he led the party that opposed Sani Abacha, the Social Democrat Party (of which his brother, Umaru, was also a member). When Shehu Yar’Adua died, Farrris set up a Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Foundation. Among its board members are both Obasanjo and the new president.

Intels is well-connected with the power brokers of the Nigerian oil industry. In early June 2003, the NPA, headed by Bode George, the chairman and his team also gave approvals to award contracts running into millions of naira, dollars, pound sterling and euros. One of the contract approvals went to Intels Nigeria Limited for the 376-metre extension of the Federal Lighter Terminal Jetty, Onne. The contract cost was $41.63 million. This was not their first contract.

{mosgoogle}The whole question of Yar’Adua’s ties to the oil industry is not about corruption or misuse of power. He, and his family, has done nothing wrong, nor has there ever been a scandal. The problem lies in the fact that, ultimately, he will now have to bear the responsibility for the development of the industry. He has said he is committed to increasing the role of domestic contractors and domestic suppliers in building Nigeria’s oil future. This is an endeavour which every Nigerian will support. The problem is that there are already a large number of princes, oil sheiks and godfathers in this business and, if this is to be channelled into a program which benefits the country as a whole, the new President will need to control this mahaukacin of an industry and no one is sure if his bit will bite as sharply as it must.

Robot  Villager

# 1 The Hausa say that a bit with a sharp bite is t...Read the full article. Posted by Robot| 27.06.2007 11:12

salstep  Villager

# 2 Thanks Gary for another well thought out article. Alot of confict of interest here. Even if indirect. Posted by salstep| 27.06.2007 12:05

katampe  Villager

# 3 Interesting, I used to think Intel was Atiku's. Posted by katampe| 27.06.2007 12:25

overdryv  Villager

# 4 The cloud is beginning to clear. Now we know Obj's decision to impose Yaradua on Nigerians has nothing to do with good governance.Its all about oil and business interests. Pray, how would there be peace in Niger Delta when people in far away Katsina and Ota are the ones making all deals in the oil industry? Is it any wonder that these people are against any form of resource control and true federalism? Nigerian politics has assumed such a cultic and oppressive proportion that no amount of sanitazition would salvage it. The only option left is to pull down this house. Posted by overdryv| 27.06.2007 12:38

el_pharoah  Villager

# 5 =katampe;187257>Interesting, I used to think Intel was Atiku's. No wonder UMY was so confident he could bring Atiku to the negotiation table. I also wonder what oil interest Buhari has and how that relates to to UMY, Obj and Atiku. It seems they all have their hands in each others pockets. They ae certainly taking us for a ride :frown: Posted by el_pharoah| 27.06.2007 12:50

tonsoyo  Villager

# 6 This confusionist called Gary is here again. Looking at all these comments so far, all I can do is just shake my head for Nigeria. Now tell me somebody, what sense as this confusionist made with this useless write-up? The offence of Yar'dua now and the reason he should not have aspired to be President in Nigeria is because his brother owned a Oil Servicing Company. Bunkum. First of all, Musa Yar'adua has never been known to be dependent on his brother largesse at any point in his life. He developed himself to become a Master Degree holder in Analytical Chemistry. He is known to be independent minded, he chose to join Aminu Kano's talakawas PRP as against his brother's elite PDM. Besides all these, who else should be getting all these contracts if not Nigerians or a company with Nigerians as partners. It is arrant nonsense to link OBJ as partner to GoodWorks International. We all know that Andrew Young and President Jimmy Carter are both OBJ's friend since his first coming in 1976. Who should he rather give contracts to? his enemies? Bottomline of this rubbish write-up is Yardua's brother did business with NNPC before, therefore his impartiality is in doubt. Absolute garbage! President George Bush's family is a major player in oil industry in America yet he make energy policies affecting the industry everyday. George Bush your own President actually awarded huge subsidies to oil industry an industry he has substantial interest in, even though they are declaring astronomical profits all the time. Oh talkless of Dick Cheney rogue company Halliburton. A part of this article was even cut from a different lettering because it is cut and paste job. Back off! we do not need your advice. Posted by tonsoyo| 27.06.2007 14:05

Auspicious  Villager

# 7 Gary Busch's position is simple. If we can shed all that unneccssary knee-jerk defensiveness for a moment of careful introspection. Here is what I see Gary saying: "The Oil Industry is in a mess like we all know. Entrenched interests go far back as the 70's, with alliances between people that the general public mistake for rivals. "They all have their hands in one another's pockets". Many of them are close relatives or family friends with the new President Umaru Yar'Adua. Now, Yar'Adua has done no wrong BUT we the way things are, with well-connected friends and family members of his involved in all the shady deals, is he enough bit to bite the "Mad Horse" of an Oil Sector?" Chikena! What is so annoying in that? Why is Tonsoyo getting all defensive about that? Why, because the guy pointing out the truth is a 'busch' white man? Only Nigerians can give exposes on Nigeria and Nigerians? Na wa for being in denial o'jare! Auspy. Posted by Auspicious| 27.06.2007 14:22

tonsoyo  Villager

# 8 =Auspicious;187294>Gary Busch's position is simple. If we can shed all that unneccssary knee-jerk defensiveness for a moment of careful introspection. Here is what I see Gary saying: "The Oil Industry is in a mess like we all know. Entrenched interests go far back as the 70's, with alliances between people that the general public mistake for rivals. "They all have their hands in one another's pockets". Many of them are close relatives or family friends with the new President Umaru Yar'Adua. Now, Yar'Adua has done no wrong BUT we the way things are, with well-connected friends and family members of his involved in all the shady deals, is he enough bit to bite the "Mad Horse" of an Oil Sector?" Chikena! What is so annoying in that? Why is Tonsoyo getting all defensive about that? Why, because the guy pointing out the truth is a 'busch' white man? Only Nigerians can give exposes on Nigeria and Nigerians? Na wa for being in denial o'jare! Auspy. Auspi, I do not know how you interpret issues but my point is clear. His points are baseless, I just made several examples in the USA. You did not say anything about those points. Just like his other articles, there are bunch of remotely connected insinuations. Why did he bring the other Yar'dua into all these? The Lawal Yar'dua has been in NNPC since 1977 30 solid years before this Yar'dua Presidency, so because they grew up together and he had the (mis)fortune of sharing the same last name with the President, he is now a suspect, after 30 years of service? Auspicious I should ask you, what sense you make out of all these far-fetched insinuations? He is from a country where it is closer home, George Bush father is directly involved, let him go and write about that first, abeg. Posted by tonsoyo| 27.06.2007 14:36

Mikky jaga  Villager

# 9 Thanks Auspy for yours above. I really wonder what Tonswoyo's interests are. The oil industry is in a mess. It will take the courage of a brutal revolutionary to put it back on track again. I doubt if Yaradua has such courage. For now, the more you look the less you see. Everything is getting curiouser and curiouser still. Posted by Mikky jaga| 27.06.2007 14:42

Auspicious  Villager

# 10 Tonsoyoooooooo! Fara Bale jare. (Take it east jare!) LOL! 1. Gary NEVER said Yar'Adua is not worthy or shouldn't have become President of Nigeria. He only gave us food for thought - period! It is something we should be aware of, so we don't take it for granted that Yar'Adua will be any better than his predecessors as concerns the oil sector. 2. For some of us, Gary is very much welcome to comment on our affairs in a manner that will compel us to keep our leaders honest/on their toes. As far as I am concerned, he is not George Bush - I don't care if he is highlighting George Bush's failings in America or not. And, for all we care, he might have penned exposes on those guys too. Who knows! Auspicious. Posted by Auspicious| 27.06.2007 14:45

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