The Federal Government, on Tuesday, denied the probe of oil swap and crude oil lifting deals entered into by the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), amidst mounting pressures on Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, by international oil companies (IOCs) and local oil cabals to discredit the planned investigation.
Tuesday’s denial is the second time that President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration would bow to pressure in the sector. Shortly after he assumed office, he banned 113 vessels from lifting Nigeria’s crude oil. He later lifted the ban after pressure was mounted by the ship owners and as Nigeria’s oil shipments suffered a decline in the global market.
Investigations however revealed that the OICs and some powerful Nigerians involved in the oil swap and lifting deals have been putting serious pressure on Kachikwu “to discredit media reports of the planned probe” citing the “great harm it will have on the revenue flow from the oil sector to the government should the government remain quiet about it’”.
A top industry source stated that “the government is under immense pressure to forget about any probe of the oil swap deals and crude oil liftings irrespective of alleged underhand activities involved in the transactions. Some of the companies involved in the different deals are companies discredited by the present government as having fraudulent deals with the past government.”
The source who spoke on the condition of anonymity said “why did they cancelled the swap deals by the last government when the new government came to power? The present government claimed that the deals were fraudulent but unfortunately, some of the companies they claimed were corrupt are back in the oil lifting deals.”
The Federal Government only recently after investigation, instituted civil suits against IOCs operating in the country in a bid to recover over N2 trillion in alleged missing revenues from over 57 million barrels of crude oil shipments that were believed to have been declared or under-declared.
A statment by Femi Adesina special adviser on media and publicity to President Muhammadu Buhari, on Tuesday, described the probe investigation as untrue.
Adesina said “reports, particularly by online media, that the immediate past Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), who is also Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr Ibe Kachikwu, is being investigated over crude oil swap deals and gas liftings during his tenure as GMD of the petroleum corporation, President Buhari appealed for decent and civilized comments, particularly when it has to do with the integrity of those who are serving the country”.
“Terrible and unfounded comments about other people’s integrity are not good. We are not going to spare anybody who soils his hands, but people should please wait till such individuals are indicted,” the President said.
Adesina in the denial statement reiterated President Buhari’s commitment to probity, accountability and integrity, stressing that transparency would remain “a watchword, which would never be trifled with”.
