Connect with us

Politics

NNPC enmeshed in contract-bidding fraud as clash of interests emerges amongst directors

Published

on

NNPC to build two new condensate refineries

A maze of fraudulent bids in the process to acquire some companies under Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) was uncovered on Sunday.

A report published by Premium Times revealed that the sale of these two companies were masterminded and owned by the same directors.

Furthermore, details emerged about a third bid which was eventually discovered to be linked to a company known as Korpu Energy Limited (which is registered) and not Kurpo Energy Limited (which is unregistered).

These damaging discoveries came in the wake of a controversial bid supervised by the NNPC Group Executive Director (GED) Refinery, Mustapha Yakubu, that saw scarce slop oil – traditionally reserved for local industries – being controversially offered to preferred bidders that are export companies.

The slop oil consignment is domiciled at the Port Harcourt Refining Company (PHRC).

These three companies implicated in the report — Sign Oil &Gas Ltd, Synthesis Integrated Pure Oil and Gas Limited and Kurpo Energy Ltd — were alleged to have been aided in their schemes by top NNPC insiders and decision-makers.

The ripple effects of these allegations might derail the economic programmes of President Muhammadu Buhari who has repeatedly pledged to ensure sanity and stability in the oil sector.

READ ALSO: Presidency explains what Buhari did to make NNPC declare profit

For local manufacturers in Nigeria – particularly those in labour-intensive industries like textiles, cement, rubber processing, food and beverages – slop oil is the only alternative to Low Pour Fuel Oil (LPFO) a product of fractional distillation that keeps the boilers of manufacturing industries running.

The LPFO is also used in power generating plants to get around the challenge of acute gas shortages.

A source within the NNPC stated that a damage control is ongoing which might witness the slop oil allocation going to a fourth company said to be a local company.

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now