Nigerian Billionaire Denies Jail Sentence In UK, Says No Rift Between Rahamaniyya Oil And Sahara Energy

Oil and gas giants, Rahamaniyya Oil and Sahara Energy, are no longer feuding over a deal entered into by both firms to buy and sell 15,000 metric tonnes of gas oil in 2018.

The Group Managing Director of Rahamaniyya Oil and Gas, Abdulrahman Bahsar, disclosed this in a statement made available to THE WHISTLER on Friday.

This newspaper understands that Rahamaniyya Oil and Sahara Energy had instituted different suits against each other in Nigerian and UK courts, respectively, over initial disagreements they had in the deal.

The clarification came amidst reports that Bahsar had been jailed by a London court for allegedly breaching multiple orders of the court in a pending suit instituted by Sahara Energy in the UK.

But reacting in the statement, Bahsar denied the reports and affirmed his commitment to the deal between his firm and Sahara Energy.

He said both firms met in Abuja on Thursday to clear doubts about the settlement earlier reached by their chief executives.

The Rahamaniyya Oil GMD, who spoke through his lawyer, Dada Awosika, clarified that an agreement had been reached between Ultimate Oil and Gas, Sahara Energy and Rahamaniyya Oil and Gas on a payment plan for balance of cargo dues owed to Sahara Energy.

Awosika said the payment plan was to be effected between December 2019 and June 2020.

According to him, the agreement was for Sahara to relinquish its “claim over cargo return” while Rahamaniyya would withdraw proceedings against the firm in the Nigerian court.

He said the parties had concluded the revised payment agreement on June 5, 2020, while the deal was to be completed latest by February 2021, hence the reports about the London court ruling came to the two businessmen as a surprise.

“In the above mentioned case, we wish to clarify that such claims are false, harmful and misleading, as both firms met today at Sahara Energy Corporate office in Abuja to strengthen their mutual business relationships as attached photographs,” Awosike said in the statement.

“Finally, we wish to state that the relationship between the firms remain cordial and we are up to date with our contractual business agreement.”

“Bashar is a law abiding citizen who remains free based out of his home in Abuja, Nigeria,” added Awosika.