*In the picture are the power couple, Walter and Mrs. Winifred Akpani are flanked by Mr. Ijewere, former president of ICAN, who is in the middle.
Whereas the wife owns Northwest Petroleum, the husband owns Providus Bank.
This is where it gets interesting.
When the wife started Northwest Petroleum on a small scale 27 years ago, the husband supported her with capital and finance.
He was a finance professional at that time, while the wife was a chartered accountant who just resigned from an oil and gas company with the intent to start her own.
With a startup capital of only N200,000, to which the husband chipped in something, Northwest Petroleum started a business and was born.
The company carried out diesel supplies in 200-liter drums to homes.
She started out supplying diesel to her church & homes in her neighborhood.
Her clientele grew to include hotels & factories.
The Business Expanded and She Became a Bulk Buyer, Leasing Petrol Stations and Distributing Other Refined Petroleum Products,
Two and a half decades later, the company now handles international oil trading and services deals worth millions of dollars and has multiple investments in midstream and upstream sectors of the Nigerian oil and gas industry.
Northwest Petroleum & Gas Company Ltd. owns over a 100 million liter storage capacity in Nigeria.
Northwest Petroleum operates two ultra-modern mega petroleum products storage terminals with a combined capacity of 96.8 million liters, certified and licensed by the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), and an ultra-modern berthing facility with international state-of-the-art firefighting and safety equipment, adjudged one of the best in Nigeria and sited in the Calabar Free Trade Zone, Cross River State.
Northwest Petroleum & Gas Company Limited also owns and operates several unique 24- and 26-nozzle ultra-modern mega filling stations across the country.
Now possessing vast experience in the importation, supply, distribution, and storage of petroleum products, Northwest Petroleum is approved by the NNPC for the allocation and export of Nigerian crude oil and is actively involved in the official export.
North West has grown and is now a business that does millions of dollars in revenue.
The husband, who was running a mortgage bank, United Mortgage Bank, wanted to apply for a banking license.
He tapped on the wife, who is now a billionaire in naira, to invest, and as you know, one good turn deserves another.
The wife invested in what is known as Providus Bank today, of which her husband is the pioneer CEO.
Not only did she invest, but her company, Northwest Petroleum, is the biggest shareholder of the bank, with over 34% shareholding.
Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you Nigeria’s biggest power couple.
Mr. Walter and Mrs. Winifred Akpani
A reminder that as a couple, you don’t need to put out the light of your partner for you to shine.
*From Chukwudi Iwuchukwu Page
