Abdulrahman Abdulrazak’s Bitter-sweet Encounter

His story, on the surface, may read like a fable. But if you take the pains to read it with undivided attention, you will find out that it is most compelling and engaging. For Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, the CEO, First Fuels Limited, and son of Alhaji AGF Abdulrazaq, the first Northern lawyer in Nigeria, the journey to fame actually started when he ventured into importation of petroleum products at a relatively young age.

He was in the news, sometimes ago, when his company had several million litres of petroleum products stored in the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation’s tanks in  Ejigbo depot as well as Mosimi depot in Ogun State, serving the needs of  independent marketers in the South-west. Again, eyes turned on him when Mobil Oil wanted to export its first batch of condensate out of Nigeria. Abdulrazaq came to the rescue as he succeeded in getting the best international prices and buyers for the product.

It will also be recalled that with the active support of Ronke Onadeko-Osayande, they executed a lot of oil-related transactions that launched the firm into the big league and fetched them billions of naira as reward for their sweat.

For obvious reasons, many had thought that he would have owned a private depot or refinery in Nigeria. But for Abdulrazaq,  who is said to have made positive impacts on the lives of many younger businessmen like Tonye Cole, Ade Shonubi, Ade Odunsi, Adewale Tinubu, Omamofe Boye and Onajite Okoloko, that was not the case, as First Fuels was hit by a few bad investments. At the height of this challenge, his former partner, Ronke Onadeko, left the company to become the Country Director of Bank Paribas (BNP) offices in Lagos.

Subsequently, Abdulrazaq dumped the oil business for politics, and even floated a football club known as FC Abuja, which recorded some modest success in the sports world.  Since then, he has lost touch with the business that gave him fame. Though, Spyglass was informed that the man that contested for Kwara Central Senatorial District under Peoples’ Democratic Party, (PDP) is back to the oil business, he could no longer be rated as a top player as he is yet to make any serious headway; he has been relegated to background in the sector.