Billionaire Femi Otedola has revealed how former President Olusegun Obasanjo flew into a rage after being told that there was diesel scarcity across the country because of deregulation.

In his forthcoming book, ‘Making It Big: Lessons from a Life in Business’, Otedola revealed that Obasanjo was so angry that he accused him of misleading him to deregulate the importation of the product, over which the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) — as it was then known — used to have an absolute monopoly.

Otedola, who owned Zenon Petroleum, had assured Obasanjo that the private sector could comfortably meet local demand without needing the NNPC's intervention. The NNPC was then selling below market price and receiving subsidy reimbursements from the federal government, which raised concerns.

In 2004, the government took a significant step by liberalising the diesel market, making it the first petroleum product to be completely free from subsidies. This move ended the rent-seeking culture that had been associated with it, marking a positive development for the industry.

The billionaire businessman wrote in excerpts shared with TheCable: “When President Obasanjo deregulated diesel in 2004, Zenon took an unassailable lead in the market. My opponents’ reaction was to tell the president that we’d turned the market upside down [and that the] economy was about to be brought down because there was no diesel, and Obasanjo was mad at me because he’d sought and received assurances from us that NNPC’s exit from diesel importation wouldn’t affect supply. My critics then fanned the flames by telling him there was no diesel in the country, that trucks couldn’t move and that industries were shutting down.”

He continued: “The President… called me at 2am, shouting through the phone. ‘You’re a stupid boy! God will punish you! You persuaded me to deregulate diesel, and now there’s no diesel in the country!’ He was livid. I flew to Abuja the following day. As soon as Obasanjo saw me, he flew into a rage again. ‘What kind of rubbish is this? What kind of nonsense is this?’ He was right in my face, screaming at the top of his lungs. I allowed him to cool down, and when he stopped talking, I tried to explain the situation. ‘Baba, they’re lying to you. It’s all lies. I have six ships waiting to discharge big supplies of diesel.'”

He mentioned to Obasanjo that diesel was available throughout the country and even showed him letters of credit for all the cargoes, emphasising the widespread availability.

“I was even paying demurrage. I told the president that I was the victim of competitors’ backbiting,” he wrote, saying he asked Obasanjo to “see what they come up with next… You’ll see that it’s me who’s telling you the truth.”

To tackle the issue of disinformation directly, Otedola shared that he told Obasanjo he plans to start advertising diesel availability and prices right on the front page of newspapers. This way, he aims to reassure everyone about fair and consistent pricing.

“I knew it was people in NNPC – the state monopoly, in their now – teetering positions of power, who were against deregulation – who’d been telling him these lies. They wanted to continue to import, and rake in the subsidy money.

“Obasanjo was a determined and robust president. Jealous people did not easily sway him. Once he made up his mind that someone was trustworthy and genuine, as he seemed to do about me that day, he stopped listening to the naysayers.”

ASA