Reps summon AGIP MD, senior staff over alleged $72m diversion
The managing director and senior management staff of the Nigeria AGIP Oil Company (NAOC) have been invited by the House of Representatives Committee on Public Petitions.
They were summoned by the committee over a petition alleging the diversion of $72 million raised by De Coon Service Limited, a service company.
The petition was against AGIP and several prominent figures, including the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC), Mele Kyari; Ali Zara; Ismailia Mohammed; and former Executive Secretary of the Nigeria Content Development and Monitoring Board, Simbi Wabote.
AGIP and the other accused persons were alleged to have withheld and diverted over $72 million owed to the company.
Consequently, the House Committee on Public Petitions initiated an inquiry into the matter, demanding the appearance of the involved parties.
The House committee’s summons was issued on June 10, 2024, and signed by the committee chairman, stating that the parties must appear before the committee on June 20, 2024, with a soft copy and ten hard copies of their briefs.
The summon emphasized the need for compliance under Sections 88 and 89(C) of the Nigerian Constitution.
Specifically, those summoned include the NAOC Managing Director, Division Manager (Strategic Procurement), four senior managers, two retired staff of NAOC, the Group CEO of NNPC, six other NNPC officials, and two retired staff.
Also, the Group CEO of OANDO Limited and a senior management staff, the Chief Executive of the Nigeria Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), the Managing Director of TOTAL E&P, the former Executive Secretary of the Nigeria Content Development and Monitoring Board, the Minister of Petroleum Resources, and the Permanent Secretary of the Petroleum Ministry have been summoned.
The petition of April 24, 2024, from the Executive Director of CSJET, Joshua Abah, had outlined the alleged diversion of $72 million by NAOC and NNPC officials.
De Coon Services Limited claimed that despite fulfilling a maintenance contract with NAOC from 2010 to 2018, the company was owed over $22 million, which NAOC failed to pay despite receiving corresponding cash calls from NNPC.
In the same vein, De Coon Services alleged manipulation of tender processes and ongoing financial irregularities.
Consequently, the federal lawmakers were urged to implement recommendations from NNPC’s GRC, NAPIMS, and NCDMB reports and to ensure NAOC pays all outstanding debts.
They also suggested that the debts could be paid in instalments as agreed by all stakeholders.
Meanwhile, the Federal Government has unveiled plans to slash the country’s annual petrol import cost by up to $4.4 billion through the adoption of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) as an alternative fuel.
Engr. Zayyan Tambari, the coordinator of Regulations, Compliance, and Facilitation at the Presidential Initiative on Compressed Natural Gas, revealed this during a Co-creation Session on the Nigeria Gas Vehicle Monitoring System held in Abuja recently.
He said the government aims to convert approximately one million vehicles to CNG, which requires an estimated investment of $890 million to establish the infrastructure for the alternative fuel.
Makinde approves appointment of Olakunleyin as 43rd Olubadan
Oyo State governor, ‘Seyi Makinde, has approved the appointment of Oba Akinloye Owolabi Olakuleyin as the 43rd Olubadan of lbadanland.
The governor gave the approval in a memo signed on June 14, 2024, in exercise of the powers conferred on him by Section 19 (Cap 28) Law of Oyo State 2000 as amended.
According to a statement by the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters, Honourable Olusegun Olayiwola, the approval is a culmination of a series of processes stipulated by the extant laws of the state regarding ascension to royal thrones.
The statement added that the governor congratulated the new Olubadan, praying that his tenure will birth greater developments in Ibadanland and Oyo State as a whole.
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