The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation has denied all allegations of impropriety leveled against it and its group managing director Maikanti Baru by Nigeria’s minister of state for petroleum resources Ibe Kachikwu.
Kachikwu in an August 30 letter to President Muhammadu Buhari accused Baru of humiliating the board and awarding contracts without due process.
But Ndu Ughamadu who is Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division of the NNPC, has described the allegations as ” unfounded and “unfortunate”
“It is important to note from the outset that the law and the rules do not require a review or discussion with the Minister of State or the NNPC Board on contractual matters,” Ughamadu said in a statement on Monday.
“What is required,” he continued, “is the processing and approval of contracts by the NNPC Tenders Board, the President in his executive capacity or as Minister of Petroleum, or the Federal Executive Council (FEC), as the case may be.
“There are therefore situations where all that is required is the approval of the NNPC Tenders Board while, in other cases, based on the threshold, the award must be submitted for presidential approval. Likewise, in some instances, it is FEC approval that is required.”
He said contrary to Kachikwu’s claims that he was never involved in the 2017/2018 contracting process for the Crude Oil Term Contracts, Ughamadu said the junior minister was expressly consulted by Baru and “his recommendations were taken into account in following the laid down procedure.”
