Nigerian billionaire Femi Otedola has revealed a tense confrontation with former President Olusegun Obasanjo over the deregulation of diesel importation in 2004. In his upcoming memoir, Making It Big: Lessons from a Life in Business, Otedola said Obasanjo became furious after hearing claims of nationwide diesel scarcity following the policy change. At the time, Otedola, through his company Zenon Petroleum, had assured the president that private suppliers could meet demand without NNPC’s involvement.
According to Otedola, competitors told Obasanjo that the market was in crisis, trucks were grounded, and industries were shutting down due to lack of diesel. The president allegedly called him at 2 a.m., shouting insults and accusing him of misleading the government. Otedola immediately travelled to Abuja, where Obasanjo confronted him again in person.
Otedola insisted that the claims were false, stating that he had six ships loaded with diesel waiting to offload and was even paying demurrage due to delays. He explained that rivals within NNPC, who opposed deregulation and the loss of subsidy profits, were behind the misinformation. To counter the false narrative, he proposed publishing diesel prices and availability on the front pages of national newspapers.
The businessman said that once Obasanjo realised he was telling the truth, he dismissed the critics’ claims. He described the former president as strong-willed and not easily swayed by jealousy or misinformation once trust was established. The deregulation of diesel in 2004 made it the first petroleum product in Nigeria to be fully subsidy-free, ending a rent-seeking culture in the sector.
