REP Members Disagree Over Probe Of Oil Swap Contracts For Inaccuracies

Posted by African Examiner Latest Headlines, News Thursday, June 25th, 2015

Some members of the House of Representatives have disagreed over the decision of the house to instigate a probe into alleged scams in the Refined Product Exchange Agreement otherwise known as Crude oil swap contracts.

The Rep members; Hon. Obinna Chidoka of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP and Mojeed Alabi, All Progressive Congress, APC, said the decision was not only ill-informed but based on controversial figures that had been previously disputed by the National Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, NEITI.

While Mr. Alabi argued that the motion was lacking in research and date accuracy, Mr. Chidoka said the figures quoted were not correct.

Recall that NEITI’s Director of Communication, Dr. Orji Ogbonnaya Orji, had previously refuted erroneous news report which claimed that the agency said the nation was losing $8 billion annually from the crude swap arrangement.

“The media report from that presentation attributed to NEITI that the nation loses $8 billion annually through crude oil Swap is not only wrong but misleading.

“What NEITI presented and explained at that hearing was that there is no cost efficiency in the transactions with the offshore processing organizations,” the Director said in his statement refuting the report.

Nevertheless, the House of Representatives resolved to go ahead and investigate the alleged scams in crude oil swaps contracts, involving the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation and some companies.

The motion was sponsored by Michael Enyong, from Akwa Ibom State, the House at its sitting on Wednesday.

He said a barrel of crude amounts to 159 litres and if a barrel is multiplied by 445,000 barrels, it would amount to 70,775000 litres per day, whereas Nigeria daily consumption is 40,000,000 litres per day.

But Victor Ogene, PDP Lagos State supported the motion, citing the amount of money involved and the importance of the subject.