Intels Nigeria Limited has clarified that its business had not been hindered by political influences from the present government.
The company clarified this in a statement issued on Tuesday titled ‘Intels disagrees with Atiku, says no political influence on its business’.
Intels on Monday announced that it had severed ties with its former shareholder, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, after the latter sold his interests in Intels’ parent company, Orlean Invest Holding, through a series of transactions executed in deals that began in December 2018 and concluded in 2020.
However, Atiku, who confirmed his divestment from the company, accused President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration of trying to destroy the company because of political differences.
But in the statement issued on Tuesday, the spokesman for Intels Nigeria Limited–Orlean Invest Group, Tommaso Ruffinoni, said the company’s decisions had been devoid of political considerations as it ‘has always operated according to market logic’.
The statement read, “Intels Nigeria Limited and its parent company Orlean Invest Holding in relation to some statements that appeared in the press yesterday and today, categorically denies that its business has at some time been hindered by political influences from the current government.
“The company has always operated according to market logic, thanks to its history and commitment to the development of the Nigerian economy in the oil and gas logistics sector.
“The ongoing contradictions are part of a natural commercial divergence, which will hopefully be resolved, as in the past, by a new approach, in the interest of all the parties, also according to the social role that Intels plays in the country.”
The firm explained that the severance from Atiku Abubakar was an economic decision, in the exclusive interest of the company, and to irreconcilable strategic differences with the new governance structure of the Intels – Orlean Invest Group.
