The Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Finance, Hon.
\nAbdulmumin Jibrin, said the House through his committee has in the past
\ninvestigated the Crude Oil Swap between Nigeria and two indegineous firms,
\nfollowing petitions from the Nigeria public, and as such the the House
\ncan’t waste it’s precious time for another round of exercise.<\/p>\n
The lawmaker, an All Progressives Congress (APC) member declared that \u201cOur
\nHouse committee has been neck deep in querying and investigating NNPC,
\nDepartment of Petroleum Resources, Accountant General of the Federation
\nand the Federal Inland Revenue Service on a frequent basis about several
\ntransactions that impact on the oil revenues paid into the Federation
\nAccount”.<\/p>\n
Hon. Jibrin who threw more light on the crude oil swaps, said his
\ncommittee, had in the past, received several petitions on the programme,
\nand having carried out its own independent investigation on the
\ntransactions, he had come to the realisation that \u201ca lot of information
\nout there on the swap template is over-exaggerated\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis includes such transactions as crude oil lifting by companies in
\nexchange for petroleum products. While the importation of petroleum
\nproducts is not ideal for a crude oil-producing country, but these are
\ntransactions that were put in place following NNPC\u2019s inability to meet
\ndomestic demand for petrol and other products from its refineries.\u201d\u200e<\/p>\n
\u200eHon. Jibrin was reacting to a call by the APC on the National
\nAssembly to probe the crude oil-for-petroleum-products barter programme
\nand particularly beam its searchlight on the activities of two indigenous
\noil firms involved in the crude oil swaps.<\/p>\n
According to him,\u00a0 such a call could be interpreted by the Nigerian public
\nto mean over-heating the polity and politicking on the activities of the
\nnation’s oil industry with its adverse effects of scaring away foreign and
\nlocal investments.<\/p>\n
APC had on Sunday invited the House Committees on Petroleum (Downstream),
\nPetroleum (Upstream), Justice and Senate Committee on Finance to
\ninvestigate Taleveras and Aiteo, which had been engaged by the Nigerian
\nNational Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to lift some of its crude in
\nexchange for imported petroleum products.<\/p>\n
He also cautioned the APC against being dismissive over the pedigree of
\nTaleveras and Aiteo, stating: \u201cIt is not the age of a company that
\nmatters, but its ability to deliver.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have had companies that may have existed for decades but are later
\nsidelined by new entrants into the same business which are more efficient
\nand technologically savvy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Also, commenting on the statement by the party that the $2.85 billion bid
\nsubmitted by the two firms for the Shell oil block showed that they were
\nstupendously wealthy, Jibrin said this was not indicative of the liquidity
\nof Taleveras and Aiteo, as companies are known to raise such funds through
\na combination of debt and equity.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs is the case with most transactions, oil firms are known to hedge their
\nrisk by utilising their network of contacts to pool together their sources
\nof funds.<\/p>\n
\u201cI do not believe $2.85 billion is sitting in the bank accounts of
\nTaleveras and Aiteo. Even the likes of (Aliko) Dangote finance their
\nbig-ticket transactions through debt and equity coming from various
\npartners. This is even more imperative for oil firms, which are known to
\nenter into partnerships to spread the risks associated with E&P
\nactivities.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo rather than make statements that might look like we are trying to
\nundermine indigenous oil firms, we should encourage them as part of our
\ngoal to build local content in the oil and gas sector,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Nonetheless, Jibrin added that his reaction to his party\u2019s statement
\nshould not be misconstrued as one asking the APC to turn a blind eye to
\nany underhand deal, stating: \u201cWe have a duty to carry out investigations
\nwhere necessary, but it should be done with the full information and
\nknowledge of what obtains in the oil and gas sector, and not just based on
\nhearsay.\u201d\u200e<\/p>\n
He said while he would not want to take issue with the party, as is a
\nloyal member of APC who believes in the ideals and aspirations of the
\nparty, he deemed it necessary to advise the party where a mistake has been
\nmade.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am a loyal member of the APC, I believe in the ideals of the party and
\nwould continue to respect the party. I also recognise that parties all
\nover the world have the right to issue directives to their members in the
\nlegislature.<\/p>\n
\u201cHowever, the situation we have in the House today is peculiar because it
\nis polarised and suspicions abound that have served to deepen the
\ndivisions in the green chamber instead of uniting us.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor instance, my committee has 31 members comprising PDP (Peoples
\nDemocratic Party) and APC members, so whenever APC issues a directive, our
\ncolleagues from the PDP immediately gets suspicious about its intentions,
\neven where they are in the best interest of the country,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Jibrin stressed that he decided to speak up on the party\u2019s statement so
\nthat the divisions and mistrust in the House would not get worse, adding:
\n\u201cThere is need for unity in the House, not deeper divisions. Right now,
\nthe party should help unite the House so we can work together for the
\nlarger interest of the country and people who elected us to represent
\nthem.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis has nothing to do with the fear that some of us who defected from
\nthe PDP to APC may be evicted from the House, because no one can ask us to
\nvacate our seats. However, there is a need to douse the tension in the
\nHouse so we can work together instead of working at cross-purposes, and
\nthe party has a role to play in this.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jibrin further pointed out that given the depth of knowledge his committee
\nand others in the House have on NNPC\u2019s finances, the party should have
\nconsulted its members before the statement was issued on the call to probe
\nthe swap programme, Taleveras and Aiteo.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Finance, Hon. Abdulmumin Jibrin, said the House through his committee has in the past investigated the Crude Oil Swap between Nigeria…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25259,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25247","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n