BUA Group, in a comprehensive statement issued this afternoon, Friday, November 3, has responded to allegations from Dangote Group expressing dismay at what it perceives as baseless blackmail.
Both conglomerates, owned by Nigerian billionaire, Abdul Samad Rabiu and Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, have been engaged in a competitive struggle for market dominance in Nigeria, the continent’s largest economy.
The statement released by the BUA Group reflected on the group’s agelong history of hostilities, difficulties, and alleged hindrances from the Dangote Group.
BUA group explained that in August 1991, when Nigeria was facing a sugar scarcity, BUA had sugar stock available for sale. Aliko Dangote approached BUA to buy sugar, but he handed them a bounced Societe Generale Bank of Nigeria cheque, which eventually led to a court-ordered freezing of BUA’s assets. This incident tested BUA’s resilience for three challenging months, but they managed to survive.
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In an attempt to expand their business, BUA Group leased land from Usman Dantata for a sugar refinery project with all the necessary approvals and payments.
However, Aliko Dangote, through political influence, had the lease revoked by former President Obasanjo, causing BUA to lose the land, even though it was originally Dangote’s uncle’s property. BUA was given only 24 hours to vacate the land.
After losing their initial land, it took BUA Group over a year to secure another piece of land. This second opportunity came through the generosity and support of their Chairman’s late father, who provided the land for their Lagos sugar refinery, ensuring the survival of their business.
“His gesture was a beacon of hope in one of our darkest hours. And so, BUA survived again another Dangote trap. Today, we are now the largest Sugar refining concern in West Africa,” the statement read.
The statement revealed further hurdles the Group encountered after being granted licenses to expand Nigeria’s cement industry, introducing an innovative approach with a floating cement factory.
“Our application to dock the floating terminal in Lagos met with resistance. We then decided to berth the ship at the terminal we owned in Port Harcourt” it stated.
“But the hurdles didn’t end there. The drama intensified when Orwell Brown, a Deputy Comptroller General, who was also an older brother to a Dangote Staff, launched a sudden strike, attempting to deport our vessel’s entire expatriate crew” it added.
Throughout these challenges, BUA’s determination has grown stronger, reflecting the company’s enduring spirit and its people’s united commitment to justice and fairness.
The statement also outlined similar challenges encountered while establishing its Edo Cement Plant and the Port Harcourt sugar refinery, the only one in Nigeria situated outside Lagos.
“Dangote utilized every means possible to ensure the refinery did not take off and we raised the alarm. Yet, we survived” the statement read.
“For over 32 years, we have been cast as the antagonists in a narrative woven with malice. We have not just survived, we have thrived, expanding our operations and contributing to Nigeria’s economy without resorting to subterfuge.
“To Mr. Dangote and the Dangote Group, we say: Let us build, not belittle, Let us cultivate, not conquer. While we may share the marketplace, we need not share malice. We have nothing to do with your self-inflicted issues. Blame no one but yourself,” the statement stressed.
Dangote Responds
However, the management of Dangote Industries Limited, DIL, has refuted allegations that it engaged in illegal foreign exchange deals, warning those peddling the allegation of economic sabotage against the company to desist from such underhand practices.
It gave the warning following claims in some sponsored reports in the online media, suggesting that the company is being probed for alleged illegal foreign exchange deals and money laundering by the Special Investigator, Jim Obazee who is probing the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, under the leadership of the former CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele.
In a statement, DIL described the allegation as “spurious and a rehash of a similar report peddled out of malice by a competitor, BUA Group, masquerading as a concerned Nigerian in 2016.”
Dangote said: “It is saddening to note that this publication of Monday, March 14, 2016 in BusinessDay and Leadership newspapers where the author had alleged that about “$3billion foreign exchange sourced from the CBN were diverted to other Dangote companies outside Nigeria, a practice that encourages round tripping and effect money laundering since there is no proper documentation”.
DIL management explained that the same false report back “in 2016 was now being given a fresh false slant by one Ahmed Fahad purporting it to be a new petition directed to the attention of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Mr. Jim Obazee, the Special Investigator probing the CBN, and subsequently different blogs and social media platforms have been carrying variants of this arrant falsehood to the detriment of our corporate reputation.”
The statement said “attempt by the authors of this misleading allegation to give it a fresh life in the media is baffling as the two newspapers that were misguided into publishing it as advertorial then (2016) have since publicly apologised to the Management of Dangote Industries Limited in writing as well as retracted the advertorial in its entirety in their respective publications.
“Indeed, BusinessDay and Leadership Newspapers admitted that the advertorial was sponsored by Messrs. BUA Nigeria Limited.”
DIL re-emphasised that foreign exchange for its numerous projects were sourced strictly from Interbank Foreign Exchange market in compliance with the CBN approvals and that “Letters of Credit” were established for the construction of the various operational plants and for the purchase of heavy equipment and spares required for the take-off of the Dangote Cement plants.
