Femi Otedola, a billionaire businessman, claims that Tony Elumelu, another tycoon, stabbed him in the back.

In his speech on Tuesday, Otedola reminisced about his friendship with Elumelu and the aspirations the latter had for Transcorp until he decided to withdraw when his proposal was turned down.

According to Otedola, he offered to acquire Transcorp Plc for N250 billion and take the company’s market capitalisation to N2 trillion but his bid was rejected.

The disclosure comes after Otedola’s acquisition of a 5.5 per cent in Transcorp Plc to become the second largest shareholder of the company, making headlines in the Nigerian media.

Otedola and Elumelu

Speaking via the press statement, Otedola opened up for the first time on the events surrounding the recent deal.

“In 2005, while Tony was the Managing Director of Standard Trust Bank he approached me to get funds to acquire UBA.

“I enthusiastically gave him $ 20 million, which was N2 billion at that time to buy the necessary shares in UBA for the acquisition.

“After a short period of time the share price moved up and I decided it is was a good moment to sell and get out of the bank.

“However, Tony appealed to me to hold on to the shares as he was convinced that there were future prospects – so I kept the shares,” Otedelo said.

“I became Chairman of Transcorp Hotel in 2007 with a shareholding of 5% and unknowingly Tony gradually started buying shares quietly.

“By the following year in 2008, I went bankrupt in Nigeria.

“Tony proceeded to take my shares in UBA to service the interest on my loans and he also took over my shares in Africa Finance Corporation, where I was the largest shareholder.

“Shortly after, Albert Okumagba informed me that an American firm wanted to acquire my shares in Transcorp, which I then agreed to sell.

“However, this supposed American firm turned out to be Tony Elumelu. The revelation of this prompted me to resign as Chairman of the hotel.

“Years later in 2012 Tony said he wanted to see me so we met in my office where I had previously had a meeting with foreign investors who had not yet departed the premises.

“Curious to know, he asked what sort of meeting I had had and I disclosed that I wanted to go into the power business, specifically Ughelli Power Plant.

“Tony quietly went ahead to bid for Ughelli and he outbid me by offering to buy the plant for $ 300 million.

“And as some would say: the rest is history. Fast forward to the present…

“I offered to buy Transcorp Plc for N250 billion, but unfortunately, my offer was rejected.

“My goal was to maximize the company’s potential as a Nigerian conglomerate with a market cap of at least N2 trillion instead of the current N40 billion, but it seems some shareholders have a different vision.

“As a businessman, I believe in healthy competition and market dynamics.

“Two captains cannot man a ship, and I respect the majority shareholder’s decision to buy me out. This is the nature of the game.

“Years later in 2012 Tony said he wanted to see me so we met in my office where I had previously had a meeting with foreign investors who had not yet departed the premises.

“Curious to know, he asked what sort of meeting I had had and I disclosed that I wanted to go into the power business, specifically Ughelli Power Plant.

“Tony quietly went ahead to bid for Ughelli and he outbid me by offering to buy the plant for $ 300 million.

“And as some would say: the rest is history”, he shared.