I Sold My Shares In Intels Because Buhari’s Govt Is Destroying Businesses – Atiku

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has said that the inability of the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari to provide the enabling environment for businesses to grow was the reason why he sold his shares in Integrated Logistics Services Limited.

Atiku who is a co-founder of the company had contested and lost the 2019 Presidential election to Buhari under the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party.

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In a statement issued on Monday, Atiku’s Media Aide Paul Ibe explained that one of the reasons his principal sold his shares was the Federal Government’s alleged pre-occupation to destroy “a legitimate business”.

The statement said, “Co-founder of Integrated Logistics Services Nigeria Limited (Intels), Atiku Abubakar, has been selling his shares in Intels over the years.

“It assumed greater urgency in the last five years, because this Government has been preoccupied with destroying a legitimate business that was employing thousands of Nigerians because of politics.

“He has sold his shares in Intels and redirected his investment to other sectors of the economy for returns and creation of jobs. There should be a marked difference between Politics and Business.”

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The Federal Government had in 2017, directed the Nigerian Ports Authority to terminate its pilotrage contract with Intels.

The NPA while giving reasons for the contract termination, had claimed that Intels refused to get on the Treasury Single Account platform.

Then, the resulting feud brought the majority shareholder in Intels, Gabrielle Volpi, to Nigeria, where he apologised to the Federal Government and pledged his firm’s commitment to transfer all the revenue collected from the boats monitoring and supervision services in Nigerian maritime waters to the TSA with the Central Bank of Nigeria, in compliance with the policy of the Federal Government.

Later in December 2017, there were reports that NPA had resolved the dispute with the logistics giant.

But in May 2019, news broke that NPA had once again cancelled the pilotage contract, citing Intels’ failure to remit $145.84m being outstanding service boat revenue generated from November 1, 2017, to October 31, 2018.

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The NPA, in a letter to the logistics giant, accused it of failing to remit $55.72m, which it pledged to remit in a letter dated February 12, 2019, and $145.84m, which the NPA demanded via various letters.

In its defence, Intels reportedly denied the outstanding sum of $145.84m, while adding that its pledge to pay the sum of $55.70m as revenue for the period from November 1, 2017, to March 31, 2019, was predicated on NPA’s payment of $19.67m.

NPA has, however, denied that its action was politically motivated and stemming from the feud between Atiku and Buhari.

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