The Presidency has dismissed reports that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) awarded contracts worth $25bn or that the same amount is missing.
What happened:
- Minister of State for Petroleum, Ibe Kachikwu had written a memo to President Muhammadu Buhari, where he accused Baru of $25bn contract scam.
- Kachikwu also accused the NNPC boss of insubordination and sidelining him from important decisions.
- Following the leakage of the memo, President Buhari had held a meeting with the Minister at the Presidential Villa.
- Baru had also responded to the allegations, stating that no law mandates him to discuss contracts with Kachikwu.
- Vice President Yemi Osinbajo had said he approved loans for the NNPC but not contracts, while President Muhammadu Buhari was on medical leave.
What the Presidency said:
- Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Laolu Akande, in a statement said no contracts were were procured by the NNPC based on the leaked memo by Kachikwu.
- He said a closer look will reveal that they were not procurement contracts.
He said, “When you look diligently at the referenced projects/transactions one by one, you will see, as NNPC has shown, that none of them was actually a procurement contract.
“Take both the Crude Term Contract and the Direct Sale, Direct Purchase agreements, for instance, these are not procurement contracts involving the expenditure of public funds.
“Both transactions are simply a shortlisting process, in which prospective off-takers of crude oil and suppliers of petroleum are selected under agreed terms, and in accordance with due process.
“It is, therefore, wrong and misleading to refer to them as though they are contracts involving the expenditure of NNPC funds, or public funds of any sort. “
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