Lagos Oil Boys "Dis" Obasanjo

Mr. Tonye Cole, the 37-year-old slick chief executive of Sahara Energy Resources has angrily lashed out at suggestions that he benefited from his father's contacts with the Nigerian President, Olusegun Obasanjo, in securing business opportunities in Nigeria and eventually, Ghana.

"My father does not even talk to the President. He is also not a friend of the former Managing Director of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mr. Gaius Obaseki', confirming to this paper for the first time what had previously been exclusively reported by The Chronicle about the anti- corruption strike of Obasanjo in Nigeria which rocked the oil industry a few weeks.

Tonye was reacting to a question from the Chronicle during a three day- trip to Nigeria arranged and sponsored by Sahara.

He said the only person behind them- Sahara, is God, plus the convincing package they presented when they put in bids for deals in Ghana and elsewhere.

Mr. Cole, whose father was a bosom friend of Obasanjo, talked about his relationship with Ghanaians like Dr. Kwame Nyantakyi, Ken Ofori-Atta and Ian Randolph who were his points of contact in Ghana when he decided to make a penetration into the country. He was however surprisingly silent about the yeoman role of the Ghanaian Government in seeking to avert an oil crisis by making forays into Nigeria to lean on the President for help.

Neither Ken Ofori Atta, Kwame Nyantakyi nor Wereko Brobby played any role in Sahara securing any foothold in Ghana to transport light crude oil to Ghana, he said.

"I am building an international company, we put in the bid that we knew would work because as far as we are concerned, we took the country risk of Ghana which is a major part of the finance, and so all we did was just to put in our best bid and let it work."

Incidentally, his account is at variance to what happened in 2000, when Sahara was not even a legal entity in Ghana. Professor Mills, the then Vice President in 1999 and sometime towards the end of 2000, went to Nigeria to try and get favourable terms for Ghana's crude oil imports. There was also the issue of Ghana's indebtedness via GNPC to NNPC.

Mills did not get a foot in the door, when the Kufuor administration came in, and were confronted with the precarious situation that propelled the President to personally go to Nigeria and appeal to his 'brother'. General Hamidu who happened to be mates with Obasanjo at Sandhurst, and Ken Ofori Atta who gained the friendship of Obasanjo before he became President were on the first flight to Lagos to confer with the strong-willed Obasanjo who came from jail to lead the polls and became president.

Tonye Cole and Tunde Falana who are now familiar faces at the residence of the Chief of Staff at the airport residential area have also become very close to Wereko Brobby and had the lucrative supply contract of light crude for the Aboadze plant under wraps.

Clear water research services, an oil intelligence service provider in Europe was one of the main sources of Chronicle's information about Obaseki's travails and his patronage of Sahara.

Obaseki was summoned from abroad by Obsanjo and had his crude term contracts suspended after internal investigation into a series of deals made by Obaseki with Sahara Energy.

In particular, Obaseki handed over to Sahara the deal for Okono brand of oil produced by a subsidiary company of NNPC called National Petroleum Development Corporation, a fact that was confirmed by Tonye Cole except that he insisted that they won it fair and square.

How he could cheekily tell Jones Ofori Atta that it is new grade of oil and could therefore tell the price is the height of arrant nonsense, especially under the circumstances where there is suspicion of underhand deals.

Infact, latest developments in Nigeria is that Rilwanu Lukman had resigned as Presidential adviser on Petroleum and energy matters in frustration at Obaseki and Abuja politics, but was restrained by the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Shehu Idris.

Lukman's son is linked to Obekpa Petroleum, winner of one of the oil fields that is being furiously vied for.

Another intense competition for fields featuring 14 companies is raging and curiously, Ian Randolph's boss Mike Adenuga of Consolidated Oil, who has done a runner from Sahara, is in the front seat of the huge deal being organised by the Joint Development Authority.

Some players like Sahara and Environmental Remediation Holding Corporation are not being viewed seriously in Abuja where they remain small players, but with established political links, which they may pull to make up for their technical weakness.

The latter headed by one Emeka Offor a close associate and pal of the Vice President.

Atiku Abubakar whose loyalty to Obasanjo has vacillated like a pendulum until the retired General with a wing a prayer, wiped out all opposition.

Surprisingly, one Ghanaian politician was sighted as a useful broker of peace and power in the political game at Abuja with Senator Mantur. She is Madam Hawa Yakubu, the Iron Lady of Ghana and Ecowas MP.

The oil fields licensing competition has provoked shadow boxing between Obaseki's junior Funsho Kupolukun who licked Obaseki with backing from the Department of Petroleum Resources.

The clear out at NNPC which is just simmering down saw Obaseki removing the name of his main man, the marketing Director who looks after Sahara business Alhaji Aminu Baba Kusa, from the list of names to be retired.

Funsho remains a favourite to replace Obaseki who was confirmed to have been finally removed and Sanni Bello from Zaria, a respected figure is also in the leading rungs.

In Nigeria, the field is much wider and the stakes are a thousand times higher than Ghana.