Only weeks ago, reports came to town that Dapo Oyebanjo, popularly known as D’Banj, was Kenya Moore’s “African Prince” and would be appearing on her show where much more would be revealed about him. That rumour was visited with denials and threats of litigation as D’Banj vowed to press charges with a foreign media house which described him as a womaniser.
Latest reports about Kenya Moore indicate that the man she described as “my African Prince” perhaps, might be Tonye Cole, the billionaire oil mogul who runs Sahara Energy, along with his two other friends, Tope Sonubi and Ade Odunsi.
Tonye, who is married with three kids, was caught walking side-by-side with Moore on the campus of Harvard University in the USA few days ago.
Krystle (with handle @LudaKrys1 on Twitter), a fan of Moore, on Monday took the picture that has gone viral since she tweeted:
‘Just seen Kenya Moore from RHOA in Harvard square w/ her mystery man. He’s an old man!! She caught me taking pics lol’.
The tweet was accompanied with a photo of Cole and Moore.
By all indices, Tonye Cole perfectly fits the description of Moore’s description when she granted an interview sometime ago that her boyfriend was a Nigeria who was successful. Tonye Cole’s Sahara Energy Resource Nigeria Ltd is a hugely successful company which focuses on the trading of refined petroleum products, residue and crude oil. Through contacts in corridors of power both in and outside of Nigeria, Tonye Cole has been able to take Sahara Energy to an enviable height. The company has not been without its low moments as it has been indicted on several occasions as having involved itself in unethical and sharp practices.
A report titled ‘Swiss Traders’ Opaque Deals’ in Nigeria released by Swiss non-governmental advocacy organisation, the Berne Declaration, has detailed how the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, is conniving with major Swiss oil trading companies and their Nigerian parent companies to drain Nigeria of billions of dollars of revenue through the sale of crude oil below the market value.
The report also described the schemes employed by Nigerian and foreign fuel importers, such as creating offshore subsidiaries referred to as “letterbox companies”, ship-to-ship transfer to create untraceable paperwork, payment of subsidy money into phantom and non-existing importers, and partnering with highly-placed roguish politicians to defraud the country of over $6.8 billion from 2009 to 2011.
Specifically, the report stated:
“Another firm implicated in Nigeria and with subsidiaries in Switzerland is Sahara Energy… The Nigerian authorities are requesting that Sahara reimburse 6.034 billion Nairas (37.55 million dollars) of subsidies, unless a “credible explanation” can be provided on the subject of these transactions.”
The report also stated that Sahara Energy is entirely unable to justify a bank statement showing another $33.7 million while it is among the companies that have not imported the quantities that they should have but who have nevertheless been able to continue their importing activities with flagrant impunity