Subsidy Scandal Clash: Umar Sani Dares Otedola Over N1bn Libel Suit Threat

The war of words over Nigeria’s controversial fuel subsidy era deepened on Monday as Umar Sani, former aide to ex-Vice President Namadi Sambo, hit back at billionaire businessman Femi Otedola’s threat of a ₦1 billion lawsuit.

Otedola, through his lawyer, announced plans to sue Sani for defamation after the ex-presidential aide linked him to subsidy fraud under the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan. He dismissed Sani’s comments as “malicious lies.”

Unfazed, Sani fired back on X, declaring that he would not be intimidated by the lawsuit.
“The courts are institutions no Nigerian of good conscience should ever fear to approach,” he wrote, adding that he would further address the matter during a scheduled appearance on Arise TV.

The clash follows Otedola’s recent claim that ₦2 trillion was siphoned through fraudulent subsidy claims during Jonathan’s presidency. Sani, however, dismissed the businessman’s version of events as a “hypocritical, selective, and convenient rewriting of history,” insisting that Otedola himself was a beneficiary of the subsidy regime.

The brewing showdown between the two men threatens to reopen wounds from one of Nigeria’s most controversial financial scandals, with both sides digging in for what could be a lengthy legal and public battle.