In what might as well be the first of such a development, a Nigerian well connected at the highest level of government in the country has turned down the opportunity to own an oil block.

The man is Mr. Peter Obi, Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and immediate past Governor of Anambra State, South-East Nigeria.

News Express learnt that Mr. Obi, who is Honourary Special Adviser on Finance to out-going President Goodluck Jonathan, was approached by one of the key players in the auctioning of the marginal fields and offered the opportunity to bid but turned it down on the spot, saying that he did not like getting involved in unfamiliar businesses.

“I am a trader. After selling their oil, let the oil entrepreneurs come and buy my tomato ketchup and other wares,” Obi reportedly replied.

The last round of bidding for Nigeria’s marginal fields opened in late November 2013 when Mr. Obi was still the Anambra State helmsman.

The former governor, who was Deputy Director-General (South) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Presidential Campaign Organisation for the March 28, 2015 ballot, confirmed the development during a recent chat with a circle of close friends.

“I do not like getting involved in businesses that I am not very familiar with,” Obi said. He explained that his core competence is in trading – which he has done since his university days in Nsukka – and banking, in which he later excelled, serving on the boards of three banks, including Fidelity Bank, of which he was Board Chairman before contesting the Anambra State governorship in 2003.

•Photo shows Peter Obi.