By BASHIR ADEFAKA
President Muhammadu Buhari’s decision to restore the leases on OMLs 123,124,126 and 137 to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and Addax Petroleum is further proof of the administration’s commitment to putting a stop to the culture of impunity in the oil industry.
According to the Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) in a statement signed by its Chairman Niyi Akinsiju and Secretary Cassidy Madueke, the move is a reflection of the President’s determination to sanitize the industry.
“In overruling the revocation of the licences by the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), President Buhari was emphatic about the sanctity of contracts and respect for rule of law.
“These are two issues that have dogged the oil industry for decades, and which had caused the country embarrassment in the comity of nations.
“In this case,DPR had withdrawn the leases because it claimed that Addax, which has a Production Sharing Contract (PSC) with NNPC, had failed to develop the assets sufficiently and planned to hand them over to two local companies.
“We consider that move by the regulators the height of impunity and we were not surprised that the President, in his capacity as the supervising authority in the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, stepped in early enough.
“We invite Nigerians to note that the singular action has staved off a legal, commercial and diplomatic dispute that could easily be cited by prospective foreign investors as yet another reason not to do business with Nigeria”.
BMO noted that President Buhari has since coming into office in 2015 paved way for a new lease of life in Nigeria’s oil sector.
“It is a fact that the NNPC of today is different from what it was before May 2015, when opacity and lack of accountability were the order of the day.
“We recall that it was so bad that one former Group Managing Director once told Nigerians, almost arrogantly, that they will not understand details of NNPC’s financial record, if it was made public.
“But under President Buhari’s watch, the state-owned oil company, for the first time in its 44 years existence, released publicly the first-ever audited report of its 20 subsidiaries and business divisions in 2019.
“This was an unprecedented move that was, unfortunately, lost on many Nigerians who preferred to focus on the negativities, rather than the transparency initiative that brought them to the open.
“The audited report showed that NNPC recorded a N1.01trn profit from its venture marketing subsidiary, National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS) while the production arm, Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) posted an after-tax profit of N179bn in 2018 against the N157bn for 2017.
“We also want to put it on record that NNPC is now so reformed that it enjoys a better relationship with the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI).
“This was after the industry watchdog agency confirmed that the corporation has, at 2019, resolved 11 out of the 20 audit issues it raised in its 2014 report.
“This more than anything is an affirmation that the oil sector has been witnessing a new era of transparency and accountability in the Buhari years”.
The group urged Nigerians to continue to trust in the President’s ability to sanitize the oil and gas industry as well as other sectors of the economy.
