Energy Tycoon, Wale Tinubu Hails Otedola, Elumelu On Mega Deals

FUNSHO AROGUNDADE

Billionaire energy tycoon, Jubril Adewle Tinubu has hailed two of Nigeria’s influential investors —Femi Otedola and Tony Elumelu —for wrapping up the year 2025 and ringed in 2026 with two landmark deals.

In a post Thursday on his various social handles, Tinubu spotlights Otedola’s ‘investor foresightedness’ and Elumelu’s deliberate ‘bet on African capability’ as inspiring moves in the energy sector that will spur others into a roaring start.

The Oando Plc Group Chief Executive wrote: “Reflecting on the first week of work in 2026, Femi Otedola and Tony O. Elumelu have given us a roaring start already. With the Geregu exit, Femi turned an investment in power into a landmark deal, while simultaneously deepening his position in banking. This speaks to deft positioning.

“Femi, you backed investor foresight with conviction and knew exactly when to act decisively. The mark of an exceptional investor is not simply in making an investment. The mastery lies in knowing when to exit. This, I must admit, was executed in spectacular fashion.

“For Tony, stepping into Seplat as a major shareholder is a long, deliberate bet on African capability; on ownership; on governance and on the belief that our energy future should increasingly be shaped by those who live and build at home. These are exceptional deals that set the tone not just for the year ahead, but for how value is truly created,” Tinubu concluded.

Industry stakeholders have equally described the two billionaires’ late 2025 megadeals as a fast changing pecking order in the volatile energy sector.

Otedola had reportedly cashed out when he ceded control of his high-yielding Geregu Power Plc through a change at the holding company level.

The billionaire businessman has divested his 77 per cent controlling stake in the company in a landmark $750m transaction.

In a notice filed with the Nigerian Exchange, NGX, Otedola exited Geregu as majority shareholder with MA’AM Energy Ltd acquired 95% of his Amperion Power Distribution Co., changing the ultimate beneficial ownership of 77% of Geregu’s issued share capital.

Geregu is among the NGX’s most watched electricity stocks, helped by steady earnings in a market hit by gas constraints and payment shortfalls.

Otedola, it is learnt, intends to redeploy the capital into financial sector investments. The Epe-born investor is the Chairman of First HoldCo Plc, a financial holding company he owns more than 18 percent of its stake.

Elumelu, the banking tycoon, also through his Heirs Group, created a sensation at the twilight of 2025 when he bought Maurel & Prom entire 20.07% stake —about 120.4 million shares— in Seplat Plc, in a deal valued at roughly $500 million.

Seplat’s rise has been fueled by a $1.28 billion purchase of ExxonMobil’s onshore business, completed last year, which added oil blocks, fields and export infrastructure.

On his part, Tinubu has also emerged one of the few titans who command a great deal of reverence in Nigeria’s vast and ever-evolving energy landscape. He has led his Oando Plc into a status of one of Nigeria’s best known indigenous energy names, listed in Lagos and Johannesburg, with upstream interests and trading and logistics operations.