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Bloomberg
Nigeria’s state oil company said it wasn’t obliged by law to refer contracts to Petroleum Minister of State Emmanuel Kachikwu for review or approval, dismissing allegations it made at least $24 billion worth of deals without
following due process.
“The law and the rules do not require a review or discussion with the Minister of State or the NNPC Board on contractual matters,†Ndu Ughamadu, an Abuja-based spokesman for the Nigerian National Petroleum Corp., said. The company needs only the approval of the president “in his executive capacity or as minister of petroleum,†or the cabinet, according to the statement.
Kachikwu complained in a seven-page Aug. 30 letter to President Muhammadu Buhari, who also holds the portfolio of petroleum minister, that during the more than one-year tenure of Maikanti Baru, group managing director of the NNPC, no deals were submitted to the board for approval despite a legal requirement that contracts above $20 million need to be reviewed and approved by the board of the NNPC’ which he chairs. The letter was leaked to the press on October 4.
Nigeria, Africa’s top oil producer, derives more than 90 percent of its export income from crude. The state oil company has in the past been criticized for a lack of transparency and corruption. In 2013, former central bank governor Lamido Sanusi alleged the company, then managed by a predecessor of Baru, had retained at least $12 billion of revenue that was due to the government. The NNPC denied any wrongdoing.