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| Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke |
Former Minister for Petroleum
Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, has dismissed allegations made by the
Indian High Commissioner to Nigeria to the effect that as former minister she
‘sat’ on a $15 billion oil deal.
She
described the allegation as spurious, unfounded and libellous.
Alison-Madueke
who spoke through her lawyers, Chike Amobi and Co., said the High commissioner,
Mr. Ajjampur R. Ghanashyam’s acrimony towards her is due to the refusal of the
Federal Government of Nigeria to allow the Indian company, Oil and Gas
Commission Videsh Limited (OVL), default on its contractual obligation to
provide a $ 6 billion investment, (around RS 36, 600 crore) in a 180,000
barrels (bpd) Greenfield refinery and 2,000 megawatts power plant or railway
line from East to West of Nigeria.
In a
release made to journalists in Abuja on behalf of the former minister, she said
the publication by Mr. Ajjampur R. Ghanashyam to the effect that she delayed
the approval of oil concession to twin Indian companies, Oil and Gas Commission
Videsh Limited (OVL) and Mittal Energy International JV, OMEL (MITTAL) in 2006,
after receiving a $25,000,000.00 signature bonus, is spurious, false and
lacking in substance.
Alison-Madueke
clarified that she was not the Minister of Petroleum Resources in 2006 when the
said Indian companies entered into contractual agreement with the Federal
Government and as such wouldn’t have received any signature bonus either as
citizen or minister of the Federal Republic.
She also
said she had no personal reason to sit on the contract just as she wondered why
the High Commissioner would “choose to malign and attack her rather than
commend her acting dispassionately in recommending for refund of the said
signature bonus to the Indians when the matter was brought to her attention at
the twilight of her tenure as minister.”
The
lawyer said further:”When the issue of the request for refund, made by OVL, was
re-presented to me in May 2015, I immediately prepared and dispatched a letter
dated 13th May, 2015, Ref #: PI.LM/3900/S.693/Vol.1/78b, to former President,
Goodluck Ebele Jonathan (GCFR), recommending for the refund of the said
signature bonus in compliance with the relevant and extant laws of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria which requires such approvals to be granted by the
President, and implemented by the Federal Ministry of Finance.”
Mrs.
Madueke further explained that the Federal Government voided the contract with
OVL because the company wanted the Federal Government of Nigeria to waive the
commitments they made during the bidding process which included investing $6
billion (around RS 36,600 crore) in an 180,000 barrels per day (bpd) Greenfield
refinery, a 2,000 megawatts power plant or a railway line from East to West of
Nigeria, all of which were considered in granting the concession in the first
place.
On the
allegation that the Indian High Commission to Nigeria suggested that contrary
to global best practices in the industry, Mrs. Alison-Madueke used
intermediaries to receive payment for crude oil transactions with India,
clearly imputing a fraudulent ill-feeling to the former minister’s operation,
she explained that the contract in question was a government to government
crude oil sales transaction with established procedures which predates her
tenure as minister.
She also
said that the established procedure stipulates that the buying country, in this
case India, selects and presents a local company as its agent to transact on
its behalf as it is never the responsibility of selling country to select or
nominate a company for the buying country. She maintained that Nigeria never
dictated nor suggested any intermediary or marketing company for India for the
purposes of the said transaction.
“Apparently,
the Indian High Commissioner to Nigerian mischievously obfuscated these facts
to malign the former Nigerian Petroleum Minister whilst not disclosing that it
was a government to government crude sales transaction,” the statement said.
The
former Minister disclosed that what Mr. Ajjampur R. Ghanashyam neglected to
inform Nigerians is that the oil concession was not granted to Oil and Gas
Commission Videsh Limited (OVL) and Mittal Energy International JV, OMEL
(MITTAL) due to inability of their subsidiary EMO Exploration and Production to
meet cash obligation.
According
to the lawyers acting on behalf of the minister, “Mr. Ajjampur R. Ghanashyam’s
acrimony towards our client is due to the refusal of the Federal Government of
Nigeria to allow OVL default on its contractual obligation to Nigeria in the
case of:
A $ 6
billion investment, (around RS 36, 600 crore) in an 180,000 barrels (bpd)
Greenfield refinery.
2,000
megawatts power plant or railway line from East to West of Nigeria.”
Mrs.
Alison-Madueke said as a diplomat, the Indian High Commissioner who should
foster bilateral and multilateral relations between his country and Nigeria,
belittled “such a lofty position by officiously spreading false and misleading
information calculated to malign Nigerian public officials, a conduct unbecoming
of a foreign diplomat.
“We
believe the conduct of Mr. Ajjampur R. Ghanashyam is aimed at damaging our
client’s reputation for her insistence on protecting the interests of the
people of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and for not acceding to inappropriate
requests of his country to be relieved of its contractual obligations to
Nigeria. Based on the falsity and unfounded allegations against our client, we
firmly but humbly request an unequivocal apology and a complete retraction of
the libellous statements from Mr. Ajjampur R. Ghanashyam against our client.”
Mrs.
Madueke advised Mr. Ajjampur R. Ghanashyam to govern his future conduct
accordingly to prevent the possibility of reoccurrence of any other events that
could potentially diminish the exalted office of a diplomat he represents.
God Bless You.
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