A concerned Nigerian took to X formerly known twitter on Wednesday to express his concern over the coup in Gabon.Â
The Nigerian man , who goes by the X handle @cchukudebelu, tweeted that the coup was a reminder of the Elf scandal, which was the biggest fraud enquiry in Europe since the Second World War.
The Elf scandal involved the French oil company Elf Aquitaine, which was accused of siphoning off 350 million euros from its state-owned funds to procure political favours at home and abroad. Many of the missing millions were paid out on illegal “royalties” to various African leaders and their families.
In his tweet, @cchukudebelu highlighted the fact that Elf’s “Monsieur Afrique”, Andre Tarallo, told the court that annual cash transfers totaling about £10 million were made to Omar Bongo, Gabon’s dictator, and other huge sums to the leaders of Angola, Cameroon and Congo-Brazzaville. These payments were made to guarantee Elf, not US or British oil firms, lucrative contracts.
 The Elf scandal is a case in point, and it is a scandal that should not be forgotten.
PeoplesmindÂ