The oil business world is like a perilous coast mired in storms. Through its turbulence, several men sail like desperate pirates, plundering across the seas for buried pearls and floating treasures. But, the founder of Aiteo Group, Benedict Peters, who is one of Nigeria’s most industrious business icons, and very few men navigate the coasts like sea-hardened sailors; armed with mulish resolve and steadfast spirit, they persevere through the ocean’s wildest tempests, holding course and clinging to starboard, till they chanced on the proverbial pliant course.
These are the risk-taking individuals that struck out on new paths, rather than travel the worn paths of accepted success, to prosper themselves and their society. Benny is one of the few people that would be sent to Mars and still treat it as a stepping stone to Saturn – the quality of constant invention and self-improvement that has earned him worldwide acclaim and prosperity.
Benny has survived several tempests that would have sunk a whole clan. For an ordinary businessman, that would have been the very end. But Benny is no ordinary man. And he re-laced his boots for the journey ahead. Today, he has good news to tell.
However, Peters is now a free man and can formally return to Nigeria at his convenience following the removal of his name from the list of wanted persons by the Nigerian government and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, who had previously declared him wanted on multiple alleged infractions.
Peters and his company, Aiteo Group had recorded victories in court against the EFCC, including getting a judicial order to get his name off the agency’s wanted list as the African billionaire fought doggedly to purge himself of the alleged infractions, accusing the anti-graft agency of with-hunt and bias in its bid to present him as a business front for former Petroleum Resources Minister, Allison Madueke.
According to information doing the rounds, Peters’ is no longer on the government’s wanted list and is free to return to Nigeria without fear of being harassed or intimidated. The EFCC has also delisted his name from its most wanted persons’ list on its website, two years after the African billionaire was listed.
Interestingly, Justice Othman Musa, had in his March 22, 2018 ruling in the suit filed by Peters challenging his declaration as a wanted person, voided the action of the agency and subsequently ordered the EFCC to delist his name from its website.
However, like the proverbial fairy Prince, Peters makes magic; he achieves great feats far across the seas and international boundaries. A reality too many of his peers and associates readily attest to. Just recently, he was awarded mining license in Congo with a company called Bravura. Findings revealed that he relocated to Ghana and now Congo, to experience fresh challenges and make even more exciting conquests. Now, he is reaping immensely from his quest.