TheCable

The presidency says Seyi Tinubu, son of President Bola Tinubu, is entitled to pursue his business interests in Nigeria and around the world within the bounds of the law.

Atiku Abubakar, former Vice-President, on May 5, said there is a conflict of interest in the federal government awarding the construction of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal highway to Hitech Construction Company Ltd.

Abubakar said Seyi is a director on the board of CDK Integrated Industries, a subsidiary of the Chagoury Group, which is also the parent company of Hitech.

However, in a statement on Monday, Bayo Onanuga, presidential spokesperson, said Seyi has been on the board of directors of CDK since 2018.

“It is important to state clearly that Seyi Tinubu is a 38 year-old adult who has a right to do business and pursue his business interests in Nigeria and anywhere in the world within the limits of the law. The fact that his father is now the President of Nigeria does not disqualify Seyi from pursuing legitimate business interests,” Onanuga said.

“For the records, Seyi joined the Board of Directors of CDK in 2018, more than six years ago. He is representing the interest of an investor company, in which he has interest.

“He is not a board member because his father is a friend of the Chagourys. Information about owners and shareholders of CDK is a matter of public record that can be openly accessed from the website of the Corporate Affairs Commission and CDK’s. 

“Atiku and his proxy did not need a little-known journal to recycle open-source information to make a fallacious argument. The Chairman of CDK and the highest shareholder of the company is respected General TY Danjuma (rtd).”

According to the statement, the Chagourys are minority shareholders in the company and only one member of the family on its five-man board.

“We wonder how Seyi’s membership of the board of  CDK conflicts with Hitech Construction Company’s work on Lagos-Calabar Coastal superhighway,” Onanuga said.

‘ATIKU AND INTEL’

Onanuga questioned why Abubakar is alleging a conflict of interest after the vice-president established Intels Nigeria with an Italian entrepreneur while serving in the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS).

“Nigerians should, by now, be well accustomed to Atiku’s hypocrisy on many national issues. Is it not amusing that the former Vice President, a man who openly said he formed Intels Nigeria with an Italian businessman when he was serving in the Nigeria Customs Service, a clear breach of extant public service regulations, is now the one accusing someone else of conflict of interest?” the spokesperson asked.

“When he was Vice President of Nigeria between 1999-2007, he maintained his business links with Intels that won major port concession deals.

“Was this not an abuse of office, a flagrant violation of his oath, that a company where he was a co-owner won major government contracts and concessions when he was vice president?”

Checks on Chagoury Group website by TheCable showed a link with CDK Integrated. The company is listed as a division.

A note on the website said CDK Integrated is “the latest addition to The Chagoury Group of companies”.

Onanuga said infrastructural projects such as the Lagos-Calabar Coastal highway are geared towards boosting the economy.