Africa’s Richest Man Aliko has expressed his most daring criticism of the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration since the latter came to power on May 29, 2023.
The respected business mogul was recently named among the Economic Advisory team of President Tinubu, which also include his rival Abudulsamad Rabiu, the chief executive of BUA, Tony Elumelu of United Bank for Africa, amongst other top Nigerians.
Dangote’s appointment many insist was meant to pacify him after his embarrassment, in January this year, by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, over alleged forex scam involving the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN and some individuals and companies.
The Dangote Group is believed to be among the over 50 companies being investigated by the anti-graft commission over alleged money laundering under the embattled former CBN governor Godwin Emefiele.
Recall that some EFCC operatives stormed the company’s Lagos office four months ago demanding for documents to assist them in their investigations in the alleged forex deals involving the conglomerate. The incident, those close to the businessman told the magazine did not go down well with him “because Dangote considers himself as an establishment person” that cannot be touched due to his closeness to previous governments in the country.
Jim Obaze, the Special Investigator appointed by President Tinubu last year investigated billions of dollars allegedly allocated to Dangote and other companies under the Emefiele-led CBN. Obaze submitted his report to the president last December which former part of the evidence now being used by the anti-graft agency to prosecute the former CBN boss.
Barely four months after the EFCC raid on Dangote, close watchers of events in the country say the businessman “has broken” his silence “and attacked” the Tinubu administration for embarrassing him.
Speaking on Tuesday at the Annual General Meeting of Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc, the mogul criticized the administration for floating the naira, stating that many manufacturing companies have been hit by the policy.
The CBN floated the naira last year by merging the exchange rates in the official and parallel markets. The policy has destabilsied the naira, according to experts, who blamed the apex bank for the slide in the exchange rate of the naira against the American currency, Dollar.
The Nigerian currency is now exchange for at least N1,370 to the American green back.
Dangote appears not happy with the current exchange rate which he claimed has affected his businesses and other investors in the country.
According to him, the CBN policy has created huge mess in the economy so much so that manufacturers had not been able to pay dividends to their shareholders due to the loses they suffered.
He said, “The biggest mess created (by the government) was the devaluation of the naira from N460 to N1,400.”
As a result, he said, many manufacturers have incurred huge loses and “You can see that almost 97 per cent of companies in the food and beverage business, none of them will pay dividends this year. But we will try and get out of it.”
Those close to the administration of Tinubu has exposed the frosty relationship between the president and the Chairman of Dangote Group.
“The president is not happy that his 2023 presidential bid was not supported by the businessman. Considering that Dangote has benefited in no small way from Lagos where Tinubu is the ‘godfather’ the president expected reciprocity from Dangote when he contested against Atiku,” a source said on Thursday.
The businessman was alleged to have supported Atiku Abubakar for the presidency last year which Tinubu later won with Atiku coming a distant second.
“How can you be happy, the source said, “after supporting him to build one of the biggest refineries in the world in Lagos. That’s Dangote biggest investment so far. There was no way that could have been achieved without Tinubu’s support. Yet, this person stabbed you at the back when you made your biggest political move. It’s a stab on the back.”
Since Tinubu swept to power last year, Dangote has visited him at least twice in Aso Villa, Nigeria’s seat of power in a perceived effort to “mitigate” the perceived damage in his relationship with the president.
In one of such visits to ‘beg’ Tinubu, Dangote had accompanied Bill Gates in June 2023 to the Presidency, according to analysts who insist that it will be difficult for Dangote’s businesses to survive under a hostile government.
The mogul, accompanied by his close ally, Femi Otedola later met with President Tinubu in his Bourdillon, Ikoyi home on April 10, 2024 as part of the ongoing trouble shooting efforts by prominent Nigerians to mend fence between the duo, sources familiar with the controversy informed the magazine.
