Date Published: 07/02/09

Dangote dupes former Minister of $4M

There is a lengthening line of potential adversaries against Nigeria’s billionaire industrialist, Alhaji Aliko Dangote. Former Minister of State for Finance, Ms. Nnenandi Usman is reportedly planning to expose Dangote for allegedly duping her about four million dollars ($4m).

Sources told pointblanknews.com that Ms. Usman is telling close friends and associates that she had long hoped for a day in which Mr. Dangote would be brought to justice for diverse and many “improper business transactions.”

Although the former Minister who also served with Women Affairs ministry would not take calls meant to get her clarification on the circumstances surrounding her loss of $4m to Mr. Dangote, impeccable sources disclosed that Ms. Usman kept the money with him while serving with the Fiancé Ministry and that when later she wanted the money back, Dangote was unwilling to pay. One of the sources said Dangote and Usman had more than ordinary political and economic friendships and that “they might actually have been intimate,” which was why Usman trusted him enough to keep $4m for safe keep, and that Dangote has refused and unwilling to pay the money back till date.

Strange reports of Dangote’s financial dealings continue to surface by the minutes but the billionaire has not made any tangible denial of the allegations.

He was spotted in London last week. He kept tight lips and continues to institute litigations against news organizations who dare to report his unscrupulous financial dealings. Watchers of the Nigerian economy say that reports on the billionaire can lead to more melt down in the country, especially now that banks and other key players have begun taking sides in the fight between him and his former business buddy, Mr. Femi Otedola. They both are listed as members of the prestigious Forbes list of billionaires in the world.

A meeting which took place between the two, at the instance of Vice President Goodluck Jonathan, ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo and Kwara State Governor Bukola Saraki in London did not succeed at resolving their differences.